The Case of the One Eyed Witness Extended MM
by N Burnham
Summary: I originally wrote and posted this in 2009 then deleted it for various reasons, mainly editing. Someone has beef with Perry and goes after Della to achieve his revenge. Question is: Who could it be? My stories build off one another so please read, in order: One Eyed Witness, Hesitant Hostess, Burning Body and then Loveless Lothario. Thank you everyone! So thankful to be back!
1. Chapter 1

**Major thanks to for a great summary of this episode as well as the ending** **dialogue so that everyone will know exactly where my story line picks up. Thanks to writer** **Robert C. Dennis for creating such an entertaining episode from which I now** **borrow the characters for my own little story.**

 **Della and Perry's dinner at a fancy French restaurant is interrupted by a phone call and** **an envelope containing $500.00 from a mysterious woman named Marian Fargo. She** **wants him to make an exchange for her: the money for some documents regarding her** **fugitive brother. Unbeknownst to Marion, her own husband is in on the blackmail scheme** **which is being masterminded by one Samuel Carlin. Marion's husband and Carlin both** **turn up dead but Marion, who has fled on a bus, has an eyewitness, Diana Maynard,** **who can provide her with an alibi for the murders. Unfortunately for all concerned, Ms.** **Maynard has only one good eye and may not be telling the truth about what she said.**

 **The case ends with the following conversation. My story picks up where this** **conversation leaves off:**

Perry: (fixing his tie and jacket - after they have solved the case) There. How's that?

Della: Very nice.

Perry: Am I presentable enough to take you to dinner?

Della: Definitely.

Perry: Where do you want to go?

Della: Ferrold's Cafe.

Perry: Why there?

Della: Well, there's something that still puzzles me in this case.

Perry: Mmhmm.

Della: What could they possibly put in a cup of coffee that makes it worth a dollar?

Perry: No more questions - please!

Nothing else was said as Perry and Della walked out the front of the law office. Perry turned to lock the door while Della walked ahead to the elevator and hit the down button. As the door opened, Perry walked up behind her, smiled, gently placed his hand on her elbow, and guided her in first. As always, she allowed herself to be walked the short distance into the elevator. The mere touch of his hand instantly relaxed her as they had both started to wind down from another long day. Perry turned to push the button to the main floor. When he looked back at Della, he found her leaning against the wall, head slightly tilted up, and eyes closed. It amazed him that she could look that beautiful after so many back to back 18 hour work days. He wondered what she would do if he leaned in and kissed her right now without any warning at all. The thought caused him to smile and let out a small laugh. Instead, he took a step towards her and gently brushed the fingers of his right hand across the side of her face. She smiled, but did not open her eyes.

"What was that little laugh for?" she asked.

"Oh nothing. I was just wondering if you were conscious, that's all" he said.

The comment made Della laugh aloud and open her eyes just as the elevator doors also opened. When her gaze met Perry's, she felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her body. Perry again took her elbow and she walked a little closer to him than usual as they first exited the elevator and then the front doors of the Brent Building. Neither noticed the slight figure of a man lurking in the shadows around the corner.

The ride to Ferrold's Café and subsequent dinner were relatively quiet. Both Perry and Della were drained from the late hours, lack of sleep, and meals on the run. It was relaxing to just sit together and not feel compelled to keep up a conversation. Just as Perry was about to ask for the check, the maitre de walked over to their table.

"Excuse me, Mr. Mason?" he asked.

"Yes?" said Perry.

"You have a very important call."

"I do?" said Perry quite puzzled.

Della looked at Perry in disbelief.

"Déjà vu." she said with a laugh.

"Déjà vu is right. Did you tell anyone we were coming here or leave word with the service about where we could be reached?" he asked.

"No Perry…just like last time…I didn't even know we were eating dinner out tonight ,much less here, until you asked at the last minute." she said.

"May I bring the phone over Mr. Mason?" asked the maitre de.

Perry looked at Della, shrugged his shoulders, and laughed. Della smiled up at the maitre de and told him to go ahead and put the call through.

"Perry, I'm going to the powder room. I trust we will not be heading out on

another case by the time I get back?" Della quizzed amusedly.

Perry laughed again. "My dear Miss Street," he said, "you know I can't make any promises like that." In his gentlemanly fashion, he stood up as she stood up, then he sat back down, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What is it anyway about us trying to eat a meal out that causes so many clients

or emergencies to 'pop' up?"

Della smiled broadly. "I don't know, Chief" she said, "just coincidental, I guess. At least we finished dinner this time." With that, Della excused herself to the powder room.

As she left his sight, the maitre de returned. "Mr. Mason, here's your phone call" he said as he carefully pulled the extension line and phone to the table.

"Thank you." said Perry as he took the receiver. "This is Mason."

"Hello counselor…how's life been treating you?" asked the voice.

"Just fine, I suppose. Who is this?" questioned Perry.

"Oh…just a little piece of your past come back to haunt you."

"I see." stated Perry. "And just how did you know to come haunt me here?"

"I followed you. I've actually been watching and following you for some time." said the voice.

"Well now, that's very interesting. What are you watching me for?" asked Perry.

"Like I said…I'm a little piece of your past come back to haunt you." indicated the voice.

Agitated, Perry replied, "Look here…I don't like playing games so, if you don't have anything real to say, I'm hanging up."

"Oh, but I wouldn't do that if I were you. I know of something very 'real' that you happen to like a lot…or should I say 'someone' very real?"

Playing it cool, Perry said, "I like many people. You'll have to be more specific."

"Your secretary" replied the voice.

Perry felt his stomach and chest tighten at the same time. Again, he decided to play it cool. Very calmly and nonchalantly he said, "Well, I actually like all my employees. What's your point?"

Perry looked up to see Della already returning to the table.

"Now who's playing games Mason?" laughed the voice on the other line.

As Della sat down slowly, smoothing her skirt as she went along, Perry's gaze locked on her for a split second and he quickly turned in his chair away from her and spoke, "Get to the point, damn it …what do you want?"

"You'll find out soon enough. As for the beautiful Miss Street, you didn't even bother to introduce her the last time our paths crossed. I can't wait to meet her in person. Tell me counselor, is she as indispensable as she seems? I mean, could you get by without her should I decide I want her instead? She does seem quite… delicious from afar."

"Listen here you son of …!" but, one click, and the line went dead. Perry slammed the phone receiver down.

"Perry, what's wrong?" asked Della, concern etched all over her face.

"Nothing" replied Perry as he turned back to face her.

"That didn't sound like 'nothing' to me. Your face is flushed" she said. "Who was that on the phone?"

Perry just stared at her, absorbing every aspect of her perfect face, all the while grappling with the fact that Della, his Della…well… not 'his Della'…they weren't a couple after all, he told himself… now needed 24 hour protection from an

unknown, unseen threat. 'And I thought I was doing such a good job keeping my feelings hidden' he said to himself. Perry just couldn't believe it. It seemed someone had a score to settle with him and might be choosing Della to settle it! The tightening in his stomach and chest was slowly turning to rage.

"Perry…I asked you a question. Who was that on the phone?"

Perry cleared his throat, forced a faint smile, reached across the table, and gave Della's hand a squeeze.

"Don't worry, Della" he said. "It was just a little problem with something Paul's working on for me."

"Paul?" Della said in disbelief. "You were speaking like that to Paul? I've never heard you talk to him like that before and how did he know we were here? Do you want to tell me about it? Maybe I can help?"

"No, no, no. I'll straighten it out in the morning" replied Perry as he fidgeted with his coffee cup, tipping it side to side to make the small amount of liquid at the bottom shift back and forth.

Della quietly sat across from Perry, observing him as he lost himself in his thoughts again. After a few minutes, she spoke.

"Perry?"

"Hmm" he grumbled absentmindedly.

"Are you ready to leave? It's getting late." She said.

Perry stood, pulled out his wallet and tossed several twenties on the table. As Della stood up, he reached for her stole and placed it around her shoulders. This time, instead of taking her elbow, he put his arm around her and pulled her close to him as they exited the café. Once in the car, he pulled her close to him again and drove with one hand on the steering wheel and his right arm around her. While Della thought both actions were forward and thus quite out of character for him, she offered no resistance either time. Instead, she enjoyed the warmth provided by his body and the fading scent of the cologne he had worn that day. His tenseness and stone expression, though, were not what she expected to accompany this now obvious need to be close to her.

As Perry navigated the 20 minute drive to Della's apartment, his thoughts were spinning in his head. He kept replaying the phone call over and over again like a broken recording. True his attraction to Della had been instantaneous from the moment he first met her, but he thought he had done a very good job masking those feelings. What had this anonymous observer seen from Perry that made him believe Della was his best weapon for hurting Perry? He glanced down at Della and saw she had dozed off with her head nestled against him. Perry knew his next move. He had to get into Della's apartment to check it out without alerting any more suspicion from her. His sidestepping of her questions about the phone call had caused enough of that. Getting invited up would be a neat trick to pull off considering he never walked her to her actual apartment door, just to the door of the building. "What do I do?" he thought. As he turned onto her street and pulled up in front of the building, the answer came to him. He put the car in park. His right arm was still around Della. He rubbed her arm up and down to wake her.

"Hey sleepyhead" he said softly.

"Hmmm?" she mumbled.

"You're home" he replied.

Della sat up, rubbed her hands over her face, and reached into her purse for her keys. Perry turned off the engine and started to get out. She stopped him.

"Perry, its late and pretty chilly out. You don't have to walk me to the door. I'll be fine."

"Well, actually, I was wondering if I could come up for a few minutes?" he said.

"Oh…well…" she started to say something but Perry interrupted her.

"I thought about what you said at the café about not believing I was talking to Paul so harshly on the phone and you're right Della. I shouldn't have. I know he's at his Wednesday night Poker game and I'd like to catch him before he leaves. Is it okay to use your phone?"

Della hid her disappointment with a smile. After he kept such a tight hold on her in the café parking lot and on the ride home, she had hoped he had something else in mind.

"Of course, Perry" she replied.

Once in the apartment, Perry quickly surveyed the living room and dining area. Nothing seemed out of order. He took off his coat and suit jacket and laid them across the back of a chair.

"Do you want a drink?" called Della from the kitchen.

"No, I'm fine. You go ahead and get ready for bed. I'll give Paul a quick call and I'll be out of the way before you know it" he said.

"Okay…but take your time in making it right with Paul. When a case is really important, it's easy for tempers to flare if something's not going right, but you two are also very good friends, Perry. Walking the fine line between a personal and business relationship is very hard, but I don't think you should let anything jeopardize your friendship."

As she turned to walk down the hall to her bedroom, Perry thought to himself, 'Don't I know it. I've been trying to figure out how to balance that line with you for months, but the how to of it is simply out of my grasp.' Perry walked over to the phone. 'All I know is, I can't live without her professionally. The whole office would fall apart. Privately, she's the last person I think about at night and the first person I want to see in the morning. I can't let anything happen to her. She's the one. I just wish I could figure out the right way to let her know she's the one and what if she doesn't think she's the one…she might quit and then…what would I do without her?' That was the scariest question of all…especially now.

When he heard the shower turn on, Perry quickly dialed Paul's answering service.

"Drake Detective Agency" said a female voice.

"Yes, this is Perry Mason. I have an emergency and need to be patched through to Mr. Drake immediately. Is he still with his poker group?"

"Yes, he is Mr. Mason. Please hold."

Paul was enjoying a stiff brandy, a good cigar, and a nice little string of luck when he heard the phone ring. "Hello" he said.

"Mr. Drake, I have an emergency call from Mr. Perry Mason."

"OYE" Paul said as he looked at his watch. "Put him through…say Perry…don't you ever sleep? What's the trouble?"

"Paul…listen closely…I don't have a lot of time. I need several of your best operatives put on a round the clock watch starting immediately if possible. Make sure they have direct radio contact with your office and they are fully armed" said Perry.

Paul quickly put down his cigar and grabbed a small notepad out of the jacket he had draped on the back of his chair. "Okay Perry, I'll need to do some shuffling and pull some guys from other jobs then get replacements for them. I can have someone in place with this set up in about an hour if I hurry. Where am I sending him?" quizzed Paul.

"To Della's apartment…" said Perry quietly.

"DELLA?" Paul interrupted "but Perry why?" he asked.

"Look, I'll tell you tomorrow. I want round the clock protection for her Paul. I want to know everywhere she goes, who she talks to, who may be watching her, or information on anyone who seems to be a little too interested in what she's doing…the whole works."

"Protection? I thought you wanted a 'watch.' Does she know about this?" asked Paul.

"I want both and, no, she does not know about this and you're not going to tell her. I'll keep an eye on her tonight" said Perry.

"And just how do you plan to do that?" asked Paul.

"I've got a plan. I'm calling from her apartment now. She thinks we had a fight and that I'm calling you to make it right" stated Perry.

"Well, where's she at right now" continued Paul.

"In the shower" responded Perry.

"Wow…now that's my kind of plan" said Paul.

"Paul" said Perry in a stern tone "it's not like that and you know it."

"Well, it could be if you would just…" but Perry interrupted Paul.

"I don't have time for this Paul. She could be out any minute. Just get the man here as soon as possible. I'll see you at 10 AM in your office, alright?" asked Perry. "And, oh yeah, don't forget Paul, we had a fight so don't let on any different if you see her before I see you."

"Now look Perry…" pleaded Paul.

"Sorry Paul…gotta go" and with that, Perry hung up.

Paul sat at the poker table for about 30 seconds with the lifeless receiver in his hand while he jotted down more notes. When he finally hung it up, he took a deep, almost exasperated breath, grabbed his coat and said, "Deal me out fellas."

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Della stepped from the steamy shower and grabbed two towels. After wrapping one around her body and the other around her hair, she wiped the steam from the mirror and proceeded with her nightly routine. She hoped Perry had not left yet. After towel drying her hair as best she could, she picked through it and turned the ends under with her fingers before giving it one last fluff to pick back up the body at the crown. She then shed her towel and dressed in a cobalt blue, backless satin gown with matching robe. Before going to check for Perry, she picked up her perfume, dabbed a drop on her neck, and let the stopper slowly slide down across her chest and into her cleavage. She lightly rubbed the wet line of perfume in with her wrist while watching her reflection in the dresser mirror.

She noticed it was extremely quiet in the apartment as she walked down the hall. Her heart sank a little. 'He must have left after talking to Paul or else left to meet him,' she thought. Just then, she rounded the corner and found Perry had not left at all. He was sitting at the end of the couch with his head resting on his arm which, in turn, rested on the arm of the couch. He was sound asleep. Della smiled at the sight of this man whom she had loved at first sight and whom she grew to love more dearly on a daily basis. 'I would love to curl up next to him andgo to sleep too,' she thought. Instead, she went back to her room, grabbed a pillow and a quilt from the rack in the corner, and very quietly came back to the living room. She knelt in front of Perry and carefully slid off his loosened neck tie.

She proceeded to take off his shoes and place them under the coffee table. Next, she gently lifted his head from his arm and attempted to get the pillow under it with some difficulty. Thankfully, he remained asleep and even burrowed into the pillow as if he were exactly where he was supposed to be which made Della smile. She also guided his legs up to the couch so that he was lying on his side instead of sleeping slumped sideways. Finally, Della covered him with the quilt.

She remained kneeling next to him for a minute just watching him sleep and could not keep from stroking his hair back with her right hand. As she did so she brought her hand down his neck and back to his face where she cupped it and kissed his forehead, then his left cheek very softly. Without thinking, she brushed her lips across his and whispered, "Good night."

She attempted to stand, but Perry caught her by the wrist with his free hand and pulled her down to sit on the edge of the couch in front of him. Realizing the kiss must have awakened him, she blushed as their eyes met, but before she could speak, he sat up and kissed her so long and so deeply, it completely took her breath away. As he ran his lips down her neck, he slowly pulled the robe apart and let it fall around her waist as his lips continued to make their way to her exposed shoulder, then her collar bone, and finally her chest. When he slid his hand down her back and pulled her closer into him, he could feel the quickening of her heartbeat. Then, he caught himself. 'What am I doing?' he thought. 'I can't do this… not like this… not under false pretenses…'Now the plan of faking sleep so she would not want to wake him and have him try to drive home a long distance while exhausted seemed pointless. 'I should have pretended to sleep through the kiss. I'm supposed to be protecting her not seducing her.' And then it hit him like a thunderbolt. 'She kissed me' his mind exclaimed. That kiss answered so many unanswered questions he had about how to handle his feelings towards Della. A huge burden had been lifted from his mind. He rested his forehead against her chest and steadied his breathing before looking at her. She too was trying to steady her breathing.

"Do you want me to leave?" he whispered.

"No" she said. With that, she stood up allowing the robe to fall to the floor. Perry was awestruck. She leaned over, took Perry by the hand, and led him down the hallway to her bedroom.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

The morning sun cascaded throughout the apartment casting a warm glow in Della's bedroom. Perry, lying on his right side, awoke to what he believed a glorious sight…Della, lying on her stomach, next to him, her head resting on her folded arms instead of a pillow. Although she wasn't facing him, Perry could tell by her breathing she was very much asleep. The sheets and bedspread covered her… stopping at her waist…leaving her back fully exposed. Perry could see the soft curve of her breast pressed against the mattress. Never during the times he'd allowed his mind to wander to such thoughts could he have imagined her body or last night. Both had been perfect. He reached across and slowly rubbed his hand down her back, under the covers, over her bottom, down the back of her leg and up again. After a few minutes of this, she sighed, "That's much better than waking up to my alarm clock" to which he replied, "This is much better than waking up to my alarm.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"8:10." said Perry.

She didn't stir, but with false concern replied, "Oh dear…I'm suppose to be at work in 20 minutes. How ever will I explain being late to my boss?"

Very seriously, Perry said, "Oh that's easy…I know him quite well. I'll put a good word in for you."

Della turned over with a big smile, which was returned by Perry, and wrapped her arms around him. As they embraced, Perry kissed the top of her head while breathing in the scent of her hair. Then, he tilted her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. "What's on our agenda today anyway?" he asked.

She pulled away and sat up, wrapping the covers around her. "Well…you know I try to keep it light the day after we wrap up a major trial."

"Hmm-Hmm" he answered affirmatively as he rose up and kissed her lips.

"So" she continued pulling back from the kiss and smiling, "you have an 11 AM call with Hamilton Burger, a 12:30PM lunch appointment with Judge Adams at Morey's regarding the speech you are giving at the Bar Association dinner next week…" Perry grimaced and made a face. "AND..we have a deposition from 3PM-5PM. I also have to manage to type about a dozen letters that didn't get done yesterday before the deposition and I need to turn in receipts and several bills to the accountant."

"You call that 'light'?" he said.

"Well…we aren't out chasing clues or witnesses all over the state. We aren't in court, and we don't have any "new client" appointments…so, yes, I call that light."

Della smiled.

"Pencil in Paul at 10AM…" he said, but she interrupted him.

"So you did reach him last night" Della said with raised eyebrows.

"Yes" said Perry trying to dodge her expression, "which means, as much as I hate to get out of this bed, we must get to work. I need to run home, shower, and change clothes. How long do you think it will take you to get ready so we can leave?" he asked.

"No, you don't have to go home. You can get showered and dressed here." Della said with a twinkle in her eye.

"How's that?" he asked her as he moved in to kiss her again.

She gently held him back with the palm of her hand. "My dear sir, I have told you before I am a very handy girl to have around" she teased.

"Yes, you are…now kiss me or answer the question" he demanded playfully.

"You don't exactly keep regular hours counselor and you do find clients and witnesses in the most unlikely of places. Since we keep extra clothes and toiletries for you at the office, I decided to keep a back up for you here too. Your clothes are in the hall closet and the toiletry bag is in the bathroom under the sink" she said motioning in the direction of each location.

"You really are amazing" he said earnestly as he took her hand in his. Della blushed slightly as he kissed her on the cheek and got up to head to the shower.

"And this?" Della asked, looking around at the messed up bed and clothing strewn allover the floor.

"This," he smiled warmly, "means there's now an us."

"That simple?" she said almost as a whisper.

"That simple, Della."

She nodded and watched him head into her bathroom.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Perry and Della made it to work shortly before 10 AM. The presence of two squad cars and an ambulance, which was pulling away from the building, hardly missed their attention. The doorman, who was being questioned by an officer, saw the couple's curious expressions as they approached and he ran over to greet them.

" 'Morning Mr. Mason. Miss Street" he said, "We had a little excitement here last night."

"So we see" replied Perry. "What's the story?"

"A break-in and an assault" said the doorman seriously.

"What?" exclaimed Della, "but where?"

"The Drake Detective Agency" whispered the doorman as he looked around to make sure no one else heard him. "A man and a woman got pretty banged up last night."

"Oh no…Paul" said Della grabbing Perry's arm. They looked at each other in astonishment and rushed to the elevator.

Alone, as they rode up, Perry sat his briefcase down and took Della's hands in his. "I'm taking you straight to the office and then I'll look for Paul and find out what happened." He looked at his watch and then Della. "Do not leave the office under any circumstances until I get back. Understand?"

"What?" she said incredulously, "I'm going with you."

"NO…you're not, Della" he said quite harshly causing her to pull back from him.

His tone shocked her and she did not break eye contact with him as the elevator doors opened.

"Della…no arguments…" he said sternly. She looked unconvinced. He then looked down at the floor, sighed and stepped towards her. "Please…just go to the office." Not caring whether anyone saw them, he kissed her very gently. He leaned over to pick up his brief case, but she made no movement to exit the open elevator.

"What's going on here, Perry?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know" he said honestly. "All I do know is I have an uneasy feeling about whatever happened at Paul's and I don't want you there."

"I've always come with you before. Is this because of last night?" she asked even more quietly.

"No, it isn't. I've kept you out of plenty of situations that I felt were too dangerous. Last night has nothing to do with it, but I am wondering if any of this is tied to what Paul and I spoke about last night."

"And what is it exactly that he's working on for you?" she asked.

"It's kind of complicated" he responded and looked at his watch again. "Look, I'm supposed to meet him at 10 AM. I'll know more when I get down there."

Della finally budged and walked out of the elevator. Perry could tell she was not happy at all with his request or his explanations. Perry followed her to the office door, but kept her from entering by placing his hand over hers as she tried to turn the knob. She did not look at him.

"Do you trust me?" he asked in a barely audible tone.

"With my life" she replied.

He released her hand and allowed her to open the door. Quickly, he rubbed his hand across his eyes before following her in. She had no way of knowing the impact of those words on him or how those words would reverberate in his mind in the future.

Gertie was frantic as Della, then Perry, entered the law office.

"Ms. Street! Mr. Mason! I'm so glad you're here! Did you hear what happened?"

"No, Gertie…not everything" said Perry. "What do you know?"

"Someone attacked the poor lady working the answering service for Mr. Drake around 2 AM! Just came up from behind and hit her in the back of the head and tied her up. Then, while he was ransacking the office, Mr. Drake arrived and got into a fight with him. Some shots were fired and, thank goodness, Mr. Drake was not hit, but then another man stormed the office and hit Mr. Drake from behind. One of the operatives found him unconscious this morning and phoned for help."

Gertie started to cry and Della went over to console her. Her eyes locked on Perry's as she tried to calm Gertie down. Perry mouthed silently, "Stay in this office, please" to which Della nodded 'yes.'

Perry ran through his office to the back door so he could shortcut it to Paul's.

Paul was coming around the corner and the two collided into one another. Paul was holding an ice pack to the back of his head.

"You look like hell! What's going on down there? Are you all right?" asked Perry as he turned Paul's head to survey the damage.

"I've felt better." Paul replied. "Come on."

The two walked slowly back towards Paul's office. As they did, Paul relayed to Perry pretty much the same story that he had just heard from Gertie.

"How good of a look did you get at him?" asked Perry.

"Not too good. It was dark, but I can tell you he was a big guy…not tall…but really thick" stated Paul.

"Did the answering service lady get a look at him?" asked Perry.

"No. He hit her from behind, tied her up, and turned out the lights. That was my first clue something was wrong when I got to the office. Man you should have seen my expression when I saw her tied up and lying on the floor. I barely had time to defend myself. He came at me out of no where."

"Is anything missing from your office?" said Perry.

"Yes. I think some files are missing. The filing cabinets for L and M were completely dumped out all over the floor" stated Paul.

"Did you happen to get a man in place at Della's?" asked Perry.

"Funny you should ask that and the answer's no" said Paul. "I did not because I had this little problem of getting attacked in my own office about 30 minutes after you and I got off the phone. I did , however, manage to get a man assigned to her starting this morning as soon as he sees her come to work. Is she in the office yet?"

"Yes…she's with Gertie. How's the lady from your answering service?" asked Perry.

"She's okay…a little banged up and very scared. Her husband is mad as hell though. Of course, you can't blame him. I don't think she's coming back to work for me…or, at least, that's what he said before they took her out to the ambulance." replied Paul.

"You just said she's okay" said Perry.

"They're gonna keep her overnight for observation" Paul said.

"What about that knock you took on the head?" asked Perry as they reached the door to Paul's office. The last officer was leaving and nodded at the two men as he passed by them.

"I am not going to the hospital. You know me and doctors, but WE" he emphasized, "are going to try to figure out who's causing all this trouble" said Paul. "In particular, I want to know who took a shot at me."

"WE?" exclaimed Perry.

"Yes…" responded Paul. With that, he opened the door to the office. His secretary was on her hands and knees crawling around after loose papers. Several pieces of furniture were overturned and a chair broken apart. "WE are going to figure this out because I think this is all tied to your late night request."

"How so?" asked Perry with great concern as he and Paul stepped over papers, file folders, and furniture on their way into Paul's private office.

"Because I found this little note pinned to me when I came to" said Paul and he handed the note to Perry.

 ** _Tell Mason it won't work. We must play out our game._**

"Did you show this to the police?" asked Perry.

"No" said Paul "because I figured, if you wanted the police brought in, you would have called them…not me. Perry, what the hell does this note mean? Why do you need my men following Della? You had me really worried after we got off the phone. What sort of trouble is she in?"

"Not in any trouble of her own doing" said Perry.

He proceeded to tell Paul about he and Della's dinner at Ferrold's Café and the mysterious phone call. Paul just sat there silently. When Perry finished, Paul shook his head and took out a cigarette.

"So, someone's got a beef with you and thinks Della is the best way to get revenge. I don't like this at all Perry. Did anything happen at Della's after we got off the phone? Any phone calls, strange noises, cars driving by, anything you can remember at all?"

"No" said Perry.

"And you were there all night?" asked Paul.

"Yes" said Perry as he plunged his hands into his pockets and walked over to stare out the window of the office.

"Out of curiosity, how did you manage to stay all night at Della's?" Paul tried but could not contain his smile. "What was that 'plan' of yours?"

Perry half-smiled back at him. "I pretended to fall asleep."

Paul laughed and then had to press his hands to his aching head. "That's ridiculous."

Perry stared back out the window. "Maybe so…but it worked. I knew she wouldn't wake me up and have me drive home at the risk of an accident."

"I'll have to remember that one" said Paul. "So, how involved are you two now? There's no way you could have told her about the restaurant call without it leading to some kind of relationship discussion. If I know Della like I think I do, she probably overanalyzed this half the night."

Perry said nothing.

"Come on Perry. You told her everything after we got off the phone…right? She overanalyzed the meaning behind the threat, leading to a big relationship discussion, you admitted your feelings, she did the same, you pretended to fall asleep, and…well, you fill it in for me" stated Paul.

"She still doesn't know" Perry stated flatly as he continued staring out the window "and what makes you think we're going to get involved at all anyway?" he asked seriously. Thinking of his concerns from the prior evening, he went on, "What makes you think I would be interested?"

"Look…don't make me laugh Perry. My head's already splitting. You stopped dating completely after Della came to work for you and I notice she doesn't date anyone either. You seem to show no interest in any of the beautiful women we come in contact with on cases. And, if you go to the movies, out to dinner, or any Bar Association events, you always take Della."

"So…that doesn't mean I'm in love with her. That means I enjoy her company as a friend" stated Perry. "What else?"

"Okay…you asked for it, pal." Paul walked over, ice pack still pressed to the back of his head, and stood in front of Perry. "It's also in your expressions and mannerisms. If other men look at her, you keep a closer hold on her especially when dancing. You use a softer tone when speaking to her even softer than with other women, including the others who work for you. Outside the courtroom, your facial expressions are softer when you're with her. You smile more…you laugh more…you're more relaxed as if you haven't a care in the world. And, when she's gone for any extended period of time, you are impossible to be around…quite a grouchy pain in the butt…if you ask me."

"I'm wishing I hadn't" smiled Perry. "You see all of that?"

"Yes" said Paul.

"But you know me better than anyone else so naturally you'd see a difference. The real question is 'Could a stranger see all of that?'" stated Perry.

"Hmm?…Okay. I see what you're getting at Perry. If someone were looking for a way to get even with you then they would want to hit you where you are most vulnerable. So, yeah…if a stranger looked close enough at you with that in mind…I think he'd find Della" said Paul. "I think your feelings are that obvious."

With that, he took out another cigarette and lit it…waiting for Perry's reaction. Perry walked away from him and sat down on the couch. He took out the note and looked at it again. The anger from the night before flooded him. He crumbled the note and threw it on the floor. Then, he leaned over and buried his face in his hands. Paul could see the internal struggle going on in Perry's mind and said nothing else. Instead, he finished his cigarette, picked up the phone, and arranged for when the second shift was to begin watching Della.

The rest of the day was a blur to Perry. After leaving Paul's office, he fielded what felt like a million questions from Della and Gertie about how Paul was doing, the damage to the office, and whether the police had any leads on the identity of the assailant. Nothing he said seemed to satisfy Della. His conference call with Hamilton Burger was pointless, as he knew it would be, because Burger was intent on going to trial and not excepting a lesser plea to manslaughter.

Perry was almost robotic through his lunch with Judge Adams and he could not wait for the deposition to end at 5PM.

The fresh cool air hit his face as he and Della exited the downtown courthouse. For the first time since getting to work that morning, Perry felt he could breathe deeply and relax. Paul's men were now in place providing extra protection for Della and Paul was focused on trying to find the person responsible for the break-in and threats. As they approached the car, Perry unlocked the door and asked, "Do we need to get back to the office or do you think we're done for the night?"

"Well, I guess that's really up to you. There's nothing I have to do that can't get done tomorrow… if that's what you're asking" Della replied without expression.

Perry opened the door and she got in. After looking over his surroundings, he got in and started the engine. Then, he turned towards her.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Not angry…frustrated perhaps" Della said as she fidgeted with her handbag.

Perry took a deep breath and stared out the windshield. "Too frustrated to let me fix you dinner tonight?"

Della couldn't help but smile. "Dinner at your place sounds very nice. Can we build a fire in the fireplace too?"

"Hmm-Hmm" he answered. "But you know…I don't want you to stay just for dinner" he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I know" she said as she continued to fidget with the handbag.

Perry moved closer to her, turned her face towards his, put his right arm around her, and pulled her into a long kiss. As he did so, he placed his left hand on her knee and then slowly slid his hand just under her skirt to rest inside her thigh causing her to shift her entire body towards his. As she did so, she tossed her purse aside. He released his hand from her inner thigh and wrapped his arms tightly around her never releasing her, though, from the kiss. After several minutes, he pulled away. "Let's stop by your place and pick up what you need for tomorrow. I don't want to wake up without you."

"I don't want to wake up without you either" she replied.

As they drove off towards Della's apartment, there were two sets of eyes watching…one a trusted employee of the Paul Drake Detective Agency, who pulled out in his car shortly after Perry and the other…a very large man, dressed in a stolen policeman's uniform, who was pretending to check parking meters up and down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

The roaring fire crackled and popped in the fireplace as Perry and Della

completed their evening meal. The entire apartment was warm and soothing. No

lights burned except that of a small lamp on a table in the hallway. Instead, the

apartment was aglow with the light of the fireplace and some dozen candles

placed throughout the living room and dining area. For the second night in a row,

the dinner conversation had been light as each found comfort and peace in being

with the other in the quiet solitude of the apartment.

While Perry cleared the dishes away from the table, Della carried their wine

glasses into the living room. She then collected pillows from the couch and

bedroom along with a couple of quilts and made a pallet on the floor in front of

the fire. When she finished, she looked up to find Perry leaning in the doorway

between the kitchen and dining room with his arms crossed. He had been

watching her efforts with a curious smile.

When their eyes met, she stepped around the pallet as if she were coming to

him, but instead, slowly began unbuttoning her blouse as she moved in the

opposite direction towards his bedroom. He started to follow her, but she smiled

coyly and shook her head 'no' before shutting the door behind her.

Perry laughed and sat down on the pallet. He reclined back against some pillows

and closed his eyes, but soon the sinister conversation from the night before

pierced his thoughts. Again, his chest and stomach tightened and he sat up in an

effort to catch his breath. Then, he replayed Della's words, "With my life."

His thoughts moved to the meeting with Paul and the

truthfulness in what had been said. Perry was different with Della and it was

this…his attraction to her…his love for her that had put her in danger. Before, the

struggle in his mind had always been how to cross the line and tell her his

feelings. It never occurred to him that his job would pose a threat to her or

anyone else he might love. What if they had children some day and someone

wanted to retaliate against him through them? Finally, there was the other

problem plaguing his mind: There had been two men in Paul's office. That meant

his adversary had an accomplice…maybe more. This certainly made protecting

Della more difficult because the threat could come from any number of directions.

Perry was so deep in his own thoughts, he didn't hear Della re-enter the room.

She stood there for a moment studying his expression. Something was definitely

bothering him. She knew him well enough to know he was dodging the issue of

telling her about it, but she also knew, until he was ready, there was no dragging

the information out of him. Paul, on the hand, was a different story. Tomorrow,

she would pay Mr. Drake a little visit and see what she could find out.

Della cleared her throat to get Perry's attention. When he looked up at her, he

was speechless. "Do you like it?" she asked and she turned in slow circle.

"Very much" he stammered unable to take his eyes off her body.

"Good. After all…I bought this with you in mind." Della took a few steps towards

him and leaned against the couch.

"When?" he asked…for he knew she had not been out shopping that day.

"Oh, a while back…just in case" she responded.

"Just in case what?" he smiled.

"Just in case we got to where we are now."

With that, she walked over to him. Only when the full light of the fireplace

illuminated her body did he realize that the black camisole top and tight black

shorts she wore were made of a sheer black lace…leaving very little of her body

to the imagination.

Perry straightened up and moved over as she approached. Facing him, she sat

down, quite closely, on her knees, and tossed the pillow he'd left for her to the

side. He took his right hand and ran his fingers through the side of her hair,

stopping to tuck it behind her ear. He then leaned forward and kissed her several

times…each kiss allowing for a full exploration of her mouth…before pulling her

into his lap so that she straddled him. Fully wrapped in his arms, she pressed

down into him causing his kisses to become more urgent and his hands to roam

the full extent of her body. Gently, he moved her out of his lap and laid her down

across the pallet. There… in his apartment…by the light of a slowly fading fire,

Perry temporarily forgot his worries in the arms of the only woman he had ever

truly loved.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The chill of the night air began to have an effect on the apartment causing Perry

to awaken with a shiver. He glanced at the wall clock. It read 2 A.M. He looked

over at the fireplace and saw only a few embers remained. He looked next to him

and found Della sleeping quite contently with the bulk of the quilt wrapped around

her. He lightly pressed his lips to her exposed shoulder and chuckled to himself

at how he would tease her in the morning about stealing all the covers. Then,

very carefully, so as not to wake her, he stood up, gathered his clothes, and

walked to the thermostat in the hallway. It read a cool 62 degrees. He turned it up

and made his way to the bedroom where he dressed in a warm pair of pajamas.

He was on his way to the bathroom when the phone rang. 'Who on earth could

that be?' he thought as he quickly grabbed the receiver. He did not speak

immediately, but held it to his chest while listening for movement in the living

room. When he was sure Della had not been awakened, he answered, "Hello?"

"Ah…good…you're up. I trust you received my message" stated the menacing

voice from the night before.

"Attacking an innocent woman, tearing up an office, and trying to kill Paul

Drake…you can't think of any other way to send me a message?" Perry said in a

low, hateful tone. "And, how did you get this number anyway? You wrote 'Tell

Mason it won't work.' So tell me…what won't work?"

"Any of your efforts" the voice said simply. "As for the number, I stole it from

Drake's desk."

"Any of my efforts to do what?" asked Perry.

"Oh, you are making the game quite fun for me, aren't you? I do appreciate it. I

would be so bored otherwise."

"Any of my efforts to do what?" repeated Perry with greater emphasis on each

word.

"Your efforts to protect Ms. Street, of course. You certainly didn't waste any time

getting Paul Drake on the case or working your way into her apartment last

night."

"Are you surprised?" quizzed Perry in a condescending tone. "You didn't think I

would sit idly by did you?"

"No…I knew you wouldn't Mason. See, you're in love with her. That's the best

part…the big, powerful Perry Mason has a weak spot, but I'm a man, much like

you…one who appreciates beauty… especially the beauty of a woman like Ms.

Street. That kiss today? Outside the courthouse? I applaud you…really... I would

have done the same thing had I been alone with her in the car."

"Cut the melodramatic comparison and just tell me what you want" demanded

Perry.

The voice on the other end of the line paused, then, continued with malice.

"You've taken much of the beauty in my life away, Counselor, and I will do the

same to you. You ask what I want? Well, I'm getting it right now…a slow,

torturous payback in which you will nearly kill yourself to save her, but, in the

end, I will have her…and you…well, you'll live with the failure the rest of your life."

"I will kill you first" Perry stated matter of factly with the most intense hatred he

had ever felt.

"We'll have to see how the game plays out then, won't we? Tell me one thing

about today…were you surprised to learn from Drake that I'm not working

alone?" laughed the voice.

Perry said nothing.

"I'll take your silence as a 'yes.'" and, with that, he hung up.

Suddenly, Perry was not chilled anymore by the night air. He was burning with

anger. He wanted to slam the phone against the wall. Instead, he contained his

anger by pacing around the bedroom with a lit cigarette. When he had sufficiently

cooled off, he walked back into the living room and found Della still sleeping

peacefully on the pallet. He went back to the bedroom, grabbed an extra blanket,

and returned to join her. As he watched her sleep, he took her hand in his. Again,

he heard her words in his head, "With my life." There, in the darkness, he

pressed her hand to his lips and whispered a vow to protect her no matter the

cost.


	3. Chapter 3

Della awoke the next morning to the low rumble of an approaching storm and the

smell of freshly brewed coffee. She stretched a little and then wrapped a quilt

tightly around her body as she got up to make her way in the direction of the

delicious smell. When she made it to the kitchen, she stopped and stood in the

doorway without making a sound. Perry, still in his pajamas, was busy at the

stove…scrambling eggs in one pan and trying to tend to some bacon he just

added to another. The sight of him cooking breakfast for her brought a warm,

peaceful smile to her face. Being with him the last two nights had been

wonderful. As she watched him now, she knew she was where she wanted to be

the rest of her life.

Unbeknownst to her, Perry's night had been anything but peaceful. Every time he

entered that blurry realm of sleep, when the mind is starting to dream but awake

enough to hear the sounds around it, the vision of a faceless man, snatching

Della away, would flash before his eyes. He'd then sit up in a cold sweat…his

heart pounding in his chest.

"My goodness…dinner last night…breakfast this morning. A girl could get

spoiled" she said lovingly as she continued to watch him from the doorway.

Perry jumped slightly, not realizing she had been standing there, and met her

smile with one of his own.

"Good morning… and you deserve to be spoiled" he said…using a fork to turn

over the bacon.

She laughed as she walked over and kissed the back of his shoulder. "Sounds

like we have a storm on the way in" she said.

"Yeah…I threw some clothes on over my pajamas and stepped out for a few

minutes, while you were sleeping, to pick up the early edition of the paper. I could

smell the rain in the air" Perry replied. He removed the eggs from the hot burner

and turned to wrap her in his arms.

"Then I should probably grab a shower before it gets here" said Della…kissing

him lightly on the lips. "I'll eat after I get out, if that's okay… but I will take a cup of

coffee with me." She ran her hands over his chest. "Exactly when did you get up

last night and get into your pajamas?" She questioned… kissing him, this time,

on the neck.

"At about the same time you stole all the covers from me" he said with a

pretended shiver of his body.

"I did not!" Della tried to look offended, but could not keep from giggling.

"I was very, very cold. It was quite terrible. I hope I don't get sick" Perry continued

with a hint of drama and a little pout. Della half rolled her eyes and shook her

head at him. They kissed once more… then he released her from his arms and

reached over to pour her a cup of coffee.

"Thank you" she said as she took it and walked back towards the kitchen door.

"Say…you don't need any help in the shower do you?" Perry teased hopefully.

"Only if you don't want to make it to work today" she called back as she

proceeded towards the hall bathroom with one hand holding the quilt around her

and the other balancing the hot cup.

Perry smiled and happily returned to the task of cooking their breakfast, all the

while thinking of how much he now wanted her with him, every morning, the rest

of his life. Every precious moment with her was a gift.

By 10 AM, Perry and Della had barely made it through the doors of the Brent

Building when the bottom seemed to drop out of the sky. The threatening rumble

they'd heard earlier at Perry's apartment gave way to a deluge of water that

quickly saturated the clothing of any one unfortunate enough to get caught in it.

When they entered the door to the law office, Gertie excitedly popped up from

behind her desk.

"Good Morning Mr. Mason. Good Morning Miss Street" she said in a very chipper

manner.

"Good Morning Gertie" replied Perry with a chuckle, "What has you 'hopping' this

morning?"

"Well…just go into Miss Street's office and see for yourself" she said as she

smiled broadly at Della and handed her a stack of messages and the morning

mail. Della gave Perry a confused smile and just shook her head as she headed

into her office first. "And Paul Drake's waiting for you in your office, Mr. Mason"

Gertie called after them.

"Thanks Gert…" said Perry, but he stopped mid word because he bumped into

Della causing her to drop the mail and messages all over the floor. Together,

they stood in shock… looking around her office. Every desk…every table… was

covered with small bundles of fresh cut orchids.

"Perry…when did you have time to do all of this?" asked Della.

"I didn't" he replied in a cold tone that caused Della to turn around and lock her

gaze onto his. "Seriously, Della…I know you don't like orchids." As she looked

into his eyes, she noticed for the first time that morning that he looked tired…very

tired.

"Then who did?" she asked with great concern.

"I don't know" he said honestly… still looking around the office. Before Della

could ask him another question, Paul glided in to greet them.

"Hi Beautiful" he said forcing a smile and looking around the office. "Who left you

the garden?"

"Well" she said looking at Perry, "we don't know, Paul."

As Della walked to her desk to look for a card, Paul's fake smile quickly

disappeared as he made eye contact with Perry and motioned for him to come

into the other office. Perry signaled for Paul to hold on a minute and then

squatted down to pick up the messages and letters dropped by Della… all the

while never taking his eyes off of her.

"Do you see a card anywhere?" asked Perry hesitantly. He knew who sent the

flowers and so did Paul by the looks of it. Perry knew if a card were left, then it

would likely have an ominous message…much like the one pinned to Paul…and

he would be forced to tell Della of the serious danger threatening her…and that it

was his fault…his job…that had placed her in such jeopardy.

"Here's a card" she said picking up a small envelope from under one of the

bundles and opening it. Perry held his breath…bracing for what he was about to

hear.

'Dear Mr. Mason, Thank you for all your hard work. Please share

my thanks with the rest of your staff by passing out these

bouquets to them as a small token of my appreciation.

"There's no signature" stated Della as she looked up at Perry, then Paul, with a

puzzled expression on her face. "Why wouldn't the client sign the card?"

"Maybe he just wanted to make a nice gesture without all the fuss" stated Paul.

"Or maybe SHE wanted to make a nice gesture" replied Della. "I don't know

many men who would send flowers, as a thank you, and choose orchids. It's

quite expensive…" Then she grimaced a little. "It's also morbid. One reason I

don't like orchids is they remind me of funerals. Do you remember when you

used to handle the legal affairs for 'Orchids Unlimited?'" she asked. Perry nodded

yes.

"Well" she continued, "I always hated going out to the nursery with you because

the smell reminded me of every funeral I've ever been to."

Perry looked around Della's office and then walked over to her. "Divide them out

among anyone who wants them, but tell the girls to take them home today. I don't

want any of them in the office. Throw out the leftovers, okay?" he said as he

handed her the papers she dropped. "I'll buzz you in a little while when I'm ready

to take care of these" he said nodding his head at the messages and mail. "I

need to meet with Paul first."

"No problem" she replied as she looked at Perry and then Paul a little

suspiciously. Paul smiled and winked at her as he followed Perry into the next

office. Agitated, Della sat down the mail and messages and proceeded to gather

up the bouquets of orchids. A loud boom of thunder followed by a crackling of

lightening caused her to jump. The happy mood of the morning was now gone as

she set to the task of getting rid of the flowers.

The boom of the thunder and crackling of the lightening unnerved Perry as he

shut the office door behind Paul. Paul walked over to Perry's desk and started to

sit down on the edge of it, but Perry shook his head 'no' and waved him to the

back door. "Let's go to your office" he said in a hushed tone and they took off at a

brisk pace down the hallway. Perry did not speak again until they were safely

inside Paul's private office.

"I got another call last night…well, actually at 2 AM from the man threatening

Della." stated Perry distractedly. He then gave Paul a blow by blow account of

the conversation. Paul took notes…shaking his head in disbelief the entire time.

When Perry finished the account, he asked Paul,

"Do you have the report yet for the time period covering our departure from the

courthouse and the 2 AM call?"

"Yeah…it was dropped off to me around 7 AM. It details everything from 5 PM

yesterday to 5 AM this morning. Listen Perry…I read the report and made the

decision to place an extra man on watch starting this morning. Now that you've

told me about the phone call, I'm glad I did."

"You read the whole report?" asked Perry taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Yep" said Paul…watching Perry's expression carefully.

"What's in it that caused you to add the extra man?" Perry asked as he felt his

face go flush.

"Well…it's not just what's in the report Perry." Paul reached into his pocket and

handed Perry a small white envelope.

"What's this?" he asked.

"The real envelope that came with all those orchids" Paul said quietly.

Perry looked at him with complete and utter shock. He felt his stomach and chest

tightening. "So…you switched them out? There is no anonymous, grateful client."

"Yeah" Paul replied wearily. "I came in this morning to see you. Gertie was just

gushing about all these flowers in Della's office. When I saw they were orchids, I

knew you didn't send them. Della loves roses. So, when Gertie went back to her

desk, I searched for the card, read it, and replaced it with another."

"Good thinking Paul" replied Perry. He placed his cigarette in the ashtray, took

the card out of the envelope and read it.

One hundred times more sensual than the rarest of orchids…I've watched

you from afar with abated breath and prayed for the time when you would

be mine.

Perry read the note several times, then ripped it in half and angrily threw it in the

Paul's trashcan. Again, the thunder roared and, within seconds, a jagged bolt of

lightening slashed across the sky.

"What did you read in the report that caused you to order extra protection for

Della?" he asked angrily.

Paul walked over to his desk, opened the top drawer, took out the report, and

read from the first page.

"5:15 PM: Street and Mason exited the Los Angeles County Courthouse. They

walked down the steps, down the sidewalk, across Temple Street, and stopped

at Mason's car, which was parked in the public parking lot. Three men and one

woman exited the courthouse at the same time and took off in different directions

from Mason and Street. There were 5 cars parked along the street in front of the

parking meters. No occupants were in the cars when Mason and Street exited

the building. All cars were legally parked because a policeman patrolling the area

left no tickets on any of the cars. Attached is a listing of all license plates. All

check out with no criminal records.

Mason and Street stopped for a brief conversation outside the car. No one out of

the ordinary was spotted watching them. Mason opened the door for Ms. Street.

She got in the car. He looked around the parking lot, and then got in the driver's

side. After 2 minutes, Mason leaned into Street…"

"You can skip that part" Perry interrupted as he quickly walked towards Paul and

grabbed the report from his hands. Paul lit another cigarette and took a drag on it

Perry skimmed over the rest of the report with raised eyebrows. "Well, your man

certainly is…thorough, isn't he?"

"Hmm, Hmm" Paul answered affirmatively as he took another drag on his

cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke…never taking his eyes off Perry. Perry

looked back at him, their eyes met in brief moment of unspoken understanding,

and Perry turned to walk back towards the windows.

Paul sat his cigarette next to Perry's on the side of the ashtray. 'That's the final

confirmation' he thought. Perry was 100% head over heals in love with Della and

he had finally acted on it. From what Paul read in the report, Della had not turned

him down.

'Good for you pal' thought Paul as he watched Perry continue to scrutinize the

report.

"I don't get it. What's in this report that made you put an extra man on Della?"

asked Perry with concern.

"The policeman checking parking meters in front of the courthouse" replied Paul.

Perry walked closer to the office windows and looked out at the storm. Paul

continued, "He wasn't a real policeman."

Perry spun around. "What do you mean he wasn't a real policeman? How do you

know that?"

"Because you and Della left at 5:15 PM. The courthouse closes to the public at

4:00 PM. No cops are walking that beat and checking parking meters after 5

PM…that's just a fact. It's free parking in the evening after 5 PM. Now, I called

my man down at the precinct. I didn't tell him any specifics, but I mentioned this

cop that was spotted checking meters and…guess what he told me?" asked

Paul.

"What?" replied Perry.

"There's a cleaners two blocks away from the station that handles almost all the

dry cleaning for the police. They had a break-in Wednesday night. What do you

think was stolen?" asked Paul. He got up and walked over to Perry.

"A policeman's uniform?" responded Perry. He crossed his arms, stood directly in

front of Paul, and looked him in the eyes.

"A policeman's uniform" Paul stated matter of factly.

Perry rubbed his face with both hands. Paul watched him with great concern.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" he asked.

Perry handed the report back to Paul. "No…I didn't." He patted Paul on the back,

gave him a faint, but worried smile, and walked out the door to return to his

office.


	4. Chapter 4

After leaving Paul, Perry did not immediately return to work. Instead, he walked

around the halls of the building…sometimes getting on the elevator to go to a

different floor…sometimes taking the stairs. Although he was exhausted, he had

a lot of nervous energy and anger pent up inside him that needed to be released.

When he finally re-entered his office, Perry made his way into the law library to

research some precedents impacting an upcoming lawsuit. He hoped it would

get his mind off of the meeting with Paul. It didn't. After fruitlessly reading the

same page several times, he gave up, went to his desk, and buzzed Della.

"Yes Perry?"

"I'm ready to go over the mail and messages from this morning. Will you bring

them in?" he asked wearily.

"I'm on the way" she replied.

Della picked up the stack from her desk and walked

into his office… shutting the door behind her. As she made her way towards his

desk, he met her half way around it…took the papers from her hands, tossed

them on the desk, and pulled her into a very deep kiss that sent her pulse racing.

He ran his hands down her back…stopping at her hips which he used to pull her

closer into him. When his lips slid down her neck, she had to bury her face in his

chest to stifle her growing passion. He brought his lips back to hers and kissed

her again…very slowly and deliberately…not giving in to her as she tried to pull

away to catch her breath. When the kiss finally ended, he held her in his arms for

a few minutes… breathing in the scent of her hair and perfume all at once. She

rested her head against his chest and slowly slipped her hands under his suit

jacket…caressing him as she went along. He let out a sigh and kissed the top of

her head.

"Please tell me what's bothering you" she asked without removing her head from

his chest.

"I can't…not yet anyway" he said quietly.

She looked up at him, gently stroked her left hand across his cheek, and kissed

him again.

"Okay then" she replied, "let's get back to work so you can have the weekend

off."

Perry raised his eyebrows a little and gave her a questioning look. "You

know what I mean, Perry. No falling asleep on the couch every night with legal

briefs scattered everywhere. You need some rest" she scolded.

He smiled, released her, and walked around to sit at his desk. "Trust me, Della.

Sleeping is the last thing I have in my mind for my couch this weekend."

She picked up on his hidden meaning. She walked around the desk and took her

seat next to him. She smiled, but did not make eye contact with him. She

reached across the desk to pick up the discarded mail.

"The couch, huh?" she replied coolly. "Well…we'll see" and she gave his thigh a

gentle squeeze. He picked up her hand and kissed it. As they busied themselves

with the mail, the fierce storm that had been plaguing the city all morning showed

no signs of letting up.

By late afternoon, Perry and Della had diligently completed most of the day's

work. Their efforts were further helped by a client who called and cancelled her

appointment due to the intense weather. Warnings were out on all radio channels

to stay off the streets, if possible, due to localized flooding.

The loud crackle of a lightening strike nearly caused Della to jump out of her skin

and broke her concentration on the letter Perry was dictating to her.

"I'm sorry, Perry" she said, "Can you repeat that last part to me?"

"It is kind of hard to concentrate, isn't it?" he replied.

"You look like you're doing just fine" she laughed, "I'm the one with the jitters.

You know, storms don't bother me, but this thing has been going on all day."

"I know. I'm starved too, but not enough to get out in it to go to lunch. How about

you?" he asked.

"A little, but that was quite a breakfast you fixed this morning" she said with a

smile.

"Wait 'til you see what I fix tomorrow morning" he replied playfully as he walked

up behind where she was sitting, leaned around her, and planted a quick kiss on

her neck. He took the notepad out of her hands.

"I can't wait" she laughed and she looked down at her watch. "Oh, how time flies.

I can't believe it's already 4PM… can you?" There was no answer. "Perry?" she

asked and she looked over at him.

"Hmm" he mumbled. He was already in deep thought…reading over the dictation

she had just taken.

"Perry?" she said again.

"I'm sorry. What did you say, Della?" he asked.

"Don't forget. You have a meeting with Hamilton Burger in 25 minutes." She raised her

eyebrows when she heard him grumble a curse word under his breath. "Do you

want me to re-schedule the meeting?" she asked.

Perry looked down at his watch and then over at the windows. It was still pouring

outside and the sky looked as black as night. "Yeah…call Burger, but tell him I

don't want to re-schedule to a different day. See if I can come by when the storm

eases up a little."

"I'll get him on the line in my office. I need to see Gertie before she leaves for the

day" Della replied. With that, she left the room.

Within a few minutes, Della buzzed Perry. "I have Mr. Burger on the line and he

is not happy."

"Imagine that" stated Perry.

Della laughed, "He wants to know if the great Perry Mason will melt like sugar if

he gets a little wet?"

"Put him through, Della."

Perry picked up the phone before the first ring was finished. Della came back into

the office. "Damn it Hamilton. I think Noah just floated by my windows in an ark.

What's the big deal with me coming by later?"

Della smiled as Perry held the phone away from his ear. She could hear

Hamilton Burger yelling from where she was standing. When it seemed he was

finished, Perry put the receiver back to his ear and spoke, "Fine…fine…have it

your way. I'm leaving now." Della walked into the law library. She came back in

time to see Perry wince and move his head away from the phone.

"Is he still yelling?" she asked as she readied Perry's coat, hat, and umbrella.

"No" replied Perry. He put the phone receiver back where it belonged and rubbed

his ear. "He just slammed his phone down pretty hard when he hung up on me…

I'm interested to see if it's still in one piece." Perry smiled and got up to walk

towards her.

Della laughed. "Do you want me to go with you?" Just then, a loud boom of

thunder rattled the office windows. "Never mind" she said.

She helped Perry into his coat and handed him his hat and umbrella. Then, she

handed him a small piece of pink paper. It was a phone message from Lt. Tragg.

Perry read over it and gave her a weary smile.

"Burger AND Tragg on a Friday evening…doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Not really" Della responded with a big smile. She straightened his neck tie and

pulled his coat tighter around him, making sure to button it all the way to the top.

He watched her with amusement. "It doesn't matter what you do…I'm gonna get

soaked" he said.

"Well, at least I tried" she replied patting him on his cheek before walking out into

her office. Perry followed but stopped her before they entered the receptionist's

area.

"Listen Della…I only need about 30 minutes with our illustrious District Attorney.

From there, I'll go by Tragg's office. I'll call you before I leave. With any luck, we

can be outta here and on our way to dinner by 6:30."

He leaned in to kiss her, but caught himself when he saw Gertie… a huge smile

of anticipation on her face… peaking around the corner at them. Instead, he

whispered, "Bye", gave Della's arm a reassuring squeeze, and walked out the

door of her office.

"Goodbye Gertie" he said cheerfully as he passed by her desk.

"Bye Mr. Mason" she said, "Have a good weekend."

"I intend to" he replied as he looked back at Della and then exited the office.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Della walked from her office, through the side door, to the law library. She started

returning books to the shelves and cleaning up the scattered papers, but couldn't

get the image of Perry's weary face out of her mind. The constant boom of the

thunder did nothing but further unsettle her nerves. That last crackle of lightening

sounded so close and popped so loudly, she thought a gun had been fired. She

decided to pay a little visit to Paul and see what she could find out. She went

back to her office desk, picked up the phone, and dialed his number.

"Paul Drake Detective Agency" his service answered.

"Yes, is Mr. Drake in his office? This is Della Street. I was hoping to come over

and speak with him a little while."

"Oh, hello Miss Street…no, he's gone for the day. Do you want me to leave a

message to call you?"

Della did not want to chance Paul returning her call or stopping by when Perry

was in the office. She bit her lip in disappointment.

"No…no message. I'll try back later. Thank you." Della hung up the phone. She

looked at her watch. It read 5:30 PM. She looked out the door of her office. No

Gertie. The lights in the outer offices were off. Everyone was gone for the day.

She sighed and stood up to return to the law library when another boom of

thunder and crackling of lightening caused her to jump. It was followed by three

more quick bolts of lightening and the office windows rattled. The lights flickered

on and off. For a moment, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Did

she just see a shadow move through Gertie's office? She held her breath and

looked back through the doorway. Nothing. She turned around…deciding instead

to go into Perry's office. The lights flickered again. As she walked through the

door, she heard foot steps behind her and her heart began to pound. She tried to

slam and lock the door but it was too late. The lights gave a final flicker and the

office went dark as a man with a slim build shoved the door open causing Della

to stumble into the office. She caught herself on a chair and slowly walked

backwards away from the dark figure.

"What do you want?" she yelled at him. She thought of the break-in and attack at

Paul's office. "We don't keep any money here, but you can have my handbag."

The man said nothing. He took several steps towards her. She tumbled the chair

into his path and ran behind Perry's desk, but he kicked the chair out of his way

causing the back legs to break. As he slowly moved in her direction, Della picked

up an ashtray and threw it at him. He barely dodged it and continued around the

desk towards her. She screamed for help as she ran around the other side of the

desk and tried to get to the law library door. The man slid across the top of

Perry's desk causing papers to fly everywhere. He grabbed Della just as she

crossed the threshold and brought her down, on her stomach, to the ground. As

he lay on top of her trying to get one hand over her mouth, she slammed her

head backwards into his face. The force of the hit broke his nose. He yelled out

in pain as blood spurted everywhere and he released his grip on Della. The

phone started ringing in the other room. She crawled a few steps and was trying

to stand to run away from him when he caught her by the ankle. She turned over

and kicked him in the face with her free leg causing him to blurt out a string of

obscenities. Blinded by his own blood, he clawed after her in an effort to catch

her, but only managed to get one of her high heels. Della got up and half limped,

half ran back into Perry's office. She grabbed the phone, but no one was there.

She desperately tried to dial the operator, but her hands were shaking too badly.

The man furiously re-entered Perry's office… wiping blood from his eyes. Della

dropped the phone and attempted to run out the back door, but she tripped over

the dead body of a man slumped in the hallway. She tried to scream, but a new

attacker grabbed her from behind, slapped his hand over her mouth, and

dragged her back into Perry's office. The man, who was slightly larger than the

first attacker, wore a postal worker shirt and pants, and held a firm grip on Della

as the first attacker walked across the room in their direction. When he reached

them, he said, "Release her." When the man did, the first attacker back-handed

Della across her face causing her to fall to the ground. He then picked her up by

the throat and slammed her into the wall. The blow to the back of her head

caused her to lose consciousness and her body slid to the floor.

The second attacker walked over and checked her pulse. "She's still alive" he

said looking over at his accomplice. "The boss ain't gonna like that you banged

her up so much."

"Who the hell cares? Look at what the bitch did to me!" he said as he walked out

of the office. When he returned a couple of minutes later, he also wore a postal

worker shirt and was pushing a large mail cart. The second attacker bound

Della's hands and feet and placed a piece of electrical tape over her mouth. He

then picked her up, placed her in the mail cart, and covered the top with a sheet.

As they rolled the cart out of the office, the first attacker left a bloody note pinned

to Perry's office door. He then pulled the dead bodies of two more men into the

office and left them by Gertie's desk.

The note read, 'Game Over.'


	5. Chapter 5

Paul sat at a local burger joint…enjoying a sandwich, fries, and a soda. He

looked at his watch. It read 5:30 PM. He shook his head. 'What on earth was

taking his man so long to get there?' He knew Perry was going to want to read

those reports as soon as they were available. Paul thought about some of the

more intimate details his men had included in the reports and smiled. He

definitely did not want to interrupt Perry's weekend with too much reading so

better to catch him before he and Della left. The loud thunder and piercing

lightening interrupted his thoughts. 'Geez…I don't want to go out in this again' he

said to himself. Then he thought, 'Maybe my operative didn't want to either.' He

got up, walked over to a pay phone, and called his office.

"Paul Drake Detective Agency" answered the night service.

"This is Mr. Drake. Do I have any messages?" he asked.

"No Mr. Drake. You did receive a call from Miss Della Street, but she did not want

to leave a message."

"What time was that?" asked Paul.

"The call came in a few minutes ago, Mr. Drake."

"Thanks" said Paul. He hung up, put another coin in the pay phone, and dialed

Perry's office. He let the phone ring 10 times. 'I wonder where she went so fast?'

he thought as he hung up. He walked back to his booth, tossed some money on

the table, put on his coat, and headed out into the storm to make his way, first to

his office, and then to Perry's.

PDPDPDDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Perry had a headache when he left Hamilton Burger's office. Two days…two

meetings…and he still was no closer to getting him to accept a plea to lesser

charge. Perry was also soaked from the rainstorm, and, as he pointed out quite

rudely to Burger, he had not melted at all. Perry looked at his watch. It read 5:30

PM. He wondered what Della wanted to do for dinner tonight? Maybe they could

stay in and replay last night? The thought brought a smile to his face as he

walked towards the courthouse elevator. Just then, a loud boom of thunder and

crackling of lightening made the lights flicker on and off. Perry looked around and

decided the stairs were a safer option. It took him a while to make it down all the

flights. The lights continued to flicker on and off and he had to go slowly to make

sure he did not miss a step and take a tumble. 'Wouldn't Burger love that?' he

thought to himself. When he finally made it to the main lobby, he decided he

simply wasn't in the mood to deal with Tragg tonight. He wanted to get back to

Della. He stopped at a pay phone and dialed the number to Tragg's office.

"This is Tragg" stated a gruff voice.

"Hello Lieutenant. This is Perry Mason."

"Well… hello Mr. Mason" said Tragg as he sat down on the edge of his desk. "To

what do I owe the pleasure of this call."

"You tell me Tragg. You're the one who called my office today and left a

message that you needed to see me" replied Perry.

"I most certainly did not" Tragg stated as he reached over to get a cigarette.

"I have the message here in my hand, Tragg." said Perry, unable to hide the

agitation in his voice, "and I'm calling to tell you I can't make it tonight. I'll have to

stop by Monday."

"Mason…what kind of game are you playing? I did not call you. I don't want to

see you. Now, go find someone else to bug." Tragg hung up on him.

Puzzled, Perry stood there for a moment, holding the receiver to his chest.

'Game? I'm not playing any games' he thought angrily. Then, an explosion of fear

ripped through his mind. 'GAME…If Tragg didn't leave that message…' Perry

dropped the phone receiver and took off running through the main lobby of the

courthouse…out the front doors… into the soaking rain with thunder and

lightening all around him…across the street to the parking lot…where he sped

away in the direction of the Brent Building.

Blocks away, Lieutenant Tragg and the Homicide Boys were running a race of

their own out the doors of the Police Station. A frantic Paul Drake had just

phoned in that there were three dead bodies in the law offices of Mr. Perry

Mason.


	6. Chapter 6

Sitting in the darkness in a parked sedan, a stocky man, wearing a trench

coat and hat, casually observed the comings and goings of the Brent

Building. He looked down at his watch. It read 5:30 PM. 'It won't be long

now' he thought to himself with a smile. When the building went black due

to the storm, he gleefully tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and

thought, 'Oh…this is even better!' When he witnessed his own men,

disguised as postal workers, drive from around the back of the building…

pull out on the street… and flash their high beams at him signaling "mission

accomplished," he felt intoxicated with happiness. When Paul Drake entered

the building, he knew it would only be a matter of time before he discovered

the detectives' bodies. And… when the police arrived… surrounding the

darkened building, he simply relished the scene unfolding in front of

him…unable to keep still in his seat. But…it was the arrival of Perry Mason

that sent an adrenaline rush through his body. The man had not expected to

see him. He only wanted to hang around long enough to get a small taste of

victory. The real prize was being delivered to his home. He turned the key in

the ignition, but sat there a moment longer letting the car idle. Was Mason

upstairs yet? Was he speaking to Drake at this very moment? Or, better yet,

was he reading the note and realizing he'd lost. Visions of Perry's possible

reactions to this new twist in the game flooded the man's mind… for he

knew Perry would never accept "Game Over."

A sudden flash of brightness emanated from the many windows of the Brent

Building. No longer hidden under the blanket of the power outage, he put the

car in drive, pulled out onto the street, and tipped his hat politely at one of

the officers as he passed by. It was time for him to make the acquaintance of

Miss Della Street.

Across town, Hamilton Burger was working late in his office. Still tired and

a bit agitated from his earlier meeting with Perry Mason, he rubbed his eyes

and looked down at his watch. It read 6:00 PM. 'Damn it Mason' he thought

to himself, 'I'm not accepting a plea in this case and that's it. No more

meetings or conference calls.' No one could push his buttons like that man.

He stood up from his desk and stretched. Deciding a little background noise

would help him relax; he walked over and turned on his police scanner. The

static noise of the scanner buzzed and popped. Burger smiled. He always got

a kick out of hearing the different calls that came in especially at night.

Although the storm outside made it difficult for him to get the stations tuned

in properly, the one for Tragg's office was loud and clear. As he turned

around to go back to his desk, he heard a call go out that stopped him in his

tracks. Homicide was being dispatched to the Brent Building at 125 South

Flower Street. Someone just reported three murdered bodies had been found

in the law offices of Mr. Perry Mason. Burger rushed to his coat closet,

grabbed his coat and umbrella, and then headed out the door. Despite the

courtroom battles that went on between them, he liked Mason and found him

quite interesting personally. 'He's only been gone about half an hour'

thought Burger as he opened his umbrella and ran out the front doors of the

courthouse. 'Surely he's not one of the victims' he said to himself.

Just as Perry exited the stairwell, the emergency generators kicked on

casting bright lights throughout the hallway. Perry squinted his eyes in an

effort to re-adjust them from the darkness and quickly made his way towards

his office. When he rounded the corner, he saw a very beaten down looking

Paul Drake standing just outside the law office door. He was preparing to

give a statement to Lieutenant Tragg. Perry ran towards them, grabbed Paul

by the arm, and turned him away from Tragg.

"Paul… where's Della?" he asked urgently. Paul wearily looked into Perry's

eyes, opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Not now, Mason. You can have him after I get his statement" Tragg said

impatiently. "This is official police busi…"

"Back off Tragg!" yelled Perry as he pushed his finger into Tragg's chest.

He turned his focus back to Paul. Placing both his hands on Paul's

shoulders, he asked again. "Where is she?"

"Damn it Mason!" Tragg bellowed, "You are interrupting a homicide

investigation and…" He didn't get to finish the sentence. Perry grabbed him

by his jacket, pushed him into the wall, and held him there for a brief

second.

"I DO NOT CARE TRAGG!" Perry yelled at the top of his lungs as two

officers pulled them apart.

"Mason! I'm going to have you ARRESTED for interfering with a police

investigation AND assaulting an officer!" Tragg yelled back.

"No, no, no!" Paul said over them as he shook his head and moved between

the men. "Lieutenant, you need to send out an immediate missing person

bulletin for Della Street. She's been kidnapped." Tragg looked at him in

disbelief. Paul's stern return expression caused him to turn to the officer next

to him and issue the order. The officer quickly entered Gertie's office to use

the phone. With great trepidation, Paul turned to Perry and said, "I'm sorry

Perry…I'm so sorry…she's gone."

Perry stood there for a moment searching Paul's eyes which were now

glassy with tears. "No" he stated shaking his head and looking

directly at Paul.

Paul took in a deep breath and slowly let it out... never taking his eyes off

Perry. He shook his head slowly to signal 'yes,' placed his hands on his hips,

and looked down at the ground.

Perry, trying to remain as calm as possible, placed a

firm, comforting hand on his shoulder. "And they killed three people just to

get to her?" He barely got the question out before he choked up and had to

clear his throat.

"They killed three of my men" Paul said…not lifting his gaze from the

ground. Perry released his shoulder, turned his back on his friend, and took a

few steps away. Although he felt as if his entire world had been ripped apart,

very compassionately, he turned around and told Paul, "I'm sorry too."

Lieutenant Tragg quietly watched the exchange between the men. He had

been dealing with both of them butting into his murder investigations for

years, but nothing had prepared him for anything like this. When Perry's

eyes met Tragg's, it became perfectly clear there was a lot more to this story

than the bodies in the next rooms.

"I think I need a statement from both of you" Tragg said. "Can we use your

office Drake? It will be a while before anyone can go back into Mason's."

Paul nodded yes and the three headed off in the direction of the Paul Drake

Detective Agency.

No one spoke as the three men entered the agency doors and made their way

to Paul's private office. Paul sat on top of his desk and started fidgeting with

a paper weight. Perry frustratingly sat down in a chair across from him,

leaned over, and covered his face with his hands. Tragg stood in the

doorway and carefully watched them both.

"Okay…who's going to tell me what's going on?" asked Tragg.

Perry could not keep his frustration hidden any longer. "Tragg…this is going

to have to wait! Paul, we need to pull every man you have and put them on

the streets. Someone…somewhere must have information on what happened

here tonight. I've got a picture of Della and me in my desk. It was taken at

the Bar Association dinner last month. Tragg…you run up there and get it.

It's in the top right hand drawer. We can make copies and your men can hit

the streets asking if anyone's seen her."

"WHAT? Mason…you're not calling the shots here and I'm not your errand

boy! The missing person bulletin is in progress. Let the police handle Della's

disappearance. Right now, there are three dead bodies and I want to know

how the HELL they got that way!" Tragg yelled as he came across the room

towards Perry. Perry jumped up from his seat and moved to meet Tragg's

advance. Paul jumped off the desk and thrust himself between the two men.

"Stop it! Just cool down for a second" he yelled at them. Perry and Tragg

continued to glare at one another.

"Look…Perry…I'll start pulling men and getting them on the street. You

start first by telling Tragg about the phone calls" Paul told him calmly. He

then turned to Tragg. "And you Lieutenant…mind your tone with him, got

it? Della isn't some random missing employee!" Tragg took a deep breath

and backed down.

Perry sat back down in the chair and began loosely filling Tragg in on the

details of the threatening phone call he received at Ferrold's Café while Paul

made several phone calls to operatives around the city. When he hung up,

Paul jumped in next and explained how Perry hired him to put detectives on

a 24 hour watch to protect Della. Then, Paul told him about the office break-

in, the attack, and the note left pinned to his shirt.

"Yeah…I heard about the break-in and the assaults, but I don't get why

someone would target your secretary, Perry, as a way of getting back at you

for some wrongdoing?" Tragg asked as he continued to take down notes

from the interview on his notepad.

Neither man said anything in response to the question. Tragg glanced back

and forth at them…waiting for an answer.

"Okay...fine…fine…what happened next?" he asked.

"Well, I received another threatening phone call. Only this time, it was made

to my apartment in the middle of the night. When I asked how he got my

number, he said he stole it from Paul's desk" Perry replied. "The next day, I

went to see Paul and told him about the call. He pulled out the detective's

report from the night before and…" Perry stopped… remembering some of

the details in the report.

As if on cue, Paul interjected, "And…well…it showed nothing."

When Tragg looked down at his notepad, Perry cast Paul a grateful glance.

"Anything else?" asked Tragg.

"Yes" replied Perry. "Whoever took Della also sent dozens of orchid

bouquets to her office with a note that was written as an admirer, but it was

really a hidden threat to me."

Tragg wrote everything down. "That brings us to tonight" he stated matter of

factly. "Perry, when did you leave the office?"

"I left around 4:15 P.M." Perry said.

"Where did you go?" asked Tragg.

"I had a 4:30 P.M. meeting with Hamilton Burger in his office. As I was

leaving, Della handed me a message from you that said you wanted to see

me tonight." Perry replied.

"So…you called me at around 5:30 PM to cancel an appointment that I

never made" Tragg said.

"What?!" exclaimed Paul.

"When I was leaving the office, Della handed me a message from Tragg. I

never questioned it because I thought she took it. I realized, too late, she

didn't…" Perry's voice trailed off. Then, he stood up angrily and walked

towards the office windows. The storm had slowed to a light sprinkle.

Paul shook his head and took out a cigarette. "So it was a set up."

"It was a set up" Perry stated flatly.

"Then it's your contention someone purposely left you a message to lure you

out of the office so that Della could be kidnapped?" inquired Tragg.

"Yes" said both men.

"Alright…take me to what happened next, Drake. You came back to the

office in the middle of a downpour. Why?" Tragg asked.

"My operative was supposed to deliver a 12 hour report to me when his shift

ended, but he never showed up. I called my answering service and was told

he'd left no messages, but that Della had called a few minutes before." Paul

sat his cigarette down in the ashtray and stood up.

Perry walked quickly away from the window…stopping in front of Paul.

"Della called your office tonight? What time?"

"Well…I called the service shortly after 5:30 PM or so and was told I'd just

missed her. I tried to call her back, but there was no answer. Then," Paul

said as he looked over at Tragg, "I decided to come back to the office and

look for my man first and then Perry and Della."

"When did you make the call to the police?" Perry asked quietly.

"Around 6 PM" Paul replied.

"That's right" stated Tragg.

"How long were you in the building when you discovered the bodies?" Perry

asked again quietly. The wheels were spinning in his head.

"Maybe 7 to 10 minutes at the most…I went straight to my office. Only the

answering service was there…no one else so… I came down the back

hallway towards your office and…that's when I found the first

body…slumped against the wall just in front of the door. I checked for a

pulse, found none, stepped over the body, and called out into your offices,

but no one answered. When I went to use Gertie's phone to call the police, I

found the other two bodies." With that, Paul sat back down on the edge of

the desk, picked up his cigarette, and took a long drag on it. Perry patted him

on the back and turned to Tragg.

"That means Della disappeared between 5:30 PM and 5:50 PM, Tragg." He

looked at his watch. It read a few minutes after 7PM. He looked over at

Paul. "She hasn't been gone that long and yet she could be anywhere" Perry

told him. Paul nodded his head 'yes.' Tragg said nothing. All three men

understood time was of essence in solving a kidnapping case and, thus,

keeping it from turning into a homicide case.

Tragg closed his notebook and stuck it in his pocket. "Let's go back to

Perry's office and see if my men have finished with the crime scene. Maybe

they've come up with some clues that will help missing persons find Della."

"Hold on Tragg…" Perry said angrily as he crossed the room in his

direction. Paul stood up quickly…fully expecting another confrontation.

"Now, hold on…I don't want a fight here. I'm sorry Perry" he said

earnestly. "I'll call missing persons as soon as we finish going over the

crime scene. You get me the picture of Della when we get down there."

With that, Tragg walked out of the office.

Paul walked back to the table and put out his cigarette. When he turned back

around, Perry was rubbing his eyes. Paul went over to his friend, put a

reassuring arm around his shoulder, and led him out the door.

As the two men rounded the last corner on their way back to the Perry's

office, Hamilton Burger exited the elevators and called out to Perry. Paul

continued on to the law office.

"Thank God… you're not dead!" Burger exclaimed as he extended a hand to

Perry. Perry shook Burger's hand and, with a weary smile, replied, "Should I

be?"

"Well of course not" replied Burger, "But I was worried when I heard the

call come across the police scanner about a triple murder being found in

your offices."

"So…that's why you're here" stated Perry. "I thought maybe you had

reconsidered and were willing to take a plea to a lesser charge."

"What?! I come all the way down here in a storm to see if you're alright and

you're making jokes?! You are incorrigible, you know that?" Burger replied

angrily.

Perry half-smiled at the insult and walked into Gertie's office where he

stopped and stood next to Paul. Burger watched him for a brief

minute…noticing how fatigued he looked…the circles under his eyes, and

the sadness that seemed to have overtaken him since their meeting earlier in

the evening. When he saw Tragg appear and start talking to Paul and Perry,

Burger also entered the office. Tragg nodded an acknowledgement towards

him.

"My detectives are done with their investigation, Perry. They've already

walked me through the scene and explained their theory on just how things

went down tonight. I'm going to take you through it too. Mr. Burger?" he

said motioning the D.A. to come over, "I want you to walk through the

crime scene too. Am I to assume, by your presence here tonight, you will be

personally prosecuting this case?"

Burger looked again at Perry's face and then noticed the same sad and tired

characteristics on Paul Drake's face. He looked back at Tragg and said,

"You assume correctly, Lieutenant."

"Alright then…let's get to it" said Tragg as he turned and walked through

Della's office and straight into Perry's office.

Nothing could have prepared Perry or Paul for what they were about to see.

Furniture was turned over and chairs broken. Papers from Perry's desk were

scattered around the room. An ashtray lay broken in pieces next to the wall.

Large amounts of dried blood could be found on the flooring leading from

the office into the law library. Tragg also pointed out dried blood on several

door knobs and had one of his men bring in a bloodied shirt found in a

wastebasket in Della's office.

"Do either of you know who this belongs too?" Tragg asked. Both men

shook their heads 'no.'

Then, Tragg opened a small paper sack and asked Perry, Paul, and Burger to

come over to him.

"My men also found these items." Tragg took out a black, toeless high

heeled woman's shoe and handed it to Perry. The shoe had dried blood all

over it.

"Do you know who this belongs to?" asked Tragg quietly.

Perry's eyes filled with angry tears and he had to turn away from the other

men…still holding the shoe to him. He heard Paul let out a deep breath and

say, "Its Della's."

"What do you mean its Della's?" asked Burger incredulously.

Tragg reached into the sack again and pulled out the blood stained note that

had been pinned to the door. He handed it to Paul. Paul tugged on Perry's

arm. When he turned back around, Paul handed him the note. Perry read it:

Game Over.

Perry felt as if he couldn't breathe. Images of the last two nights with Della

flooded his mind. He heard the words again, "With my life." Angrily, he

walked away from the other men and headed to his desk. When he saw the

phone, dangling off the hook, down the side of his desk…saw the bloody

fingerprints on it…he could not control his anger anymore. He dropped the

note and Della's shoe. He picked up his chair and threw it across the room in

frustration. It smashed against the wall and broke apart. He then threw the

trash can across the room after it. Burger stood in shock as he watched the

normally calm and collected Perry Mason have a meltdown.

Paul carefully walked over to the desk, took out the

picture from the Bar Association dinner, and walked it back to Tragg. Tragg

quietly thanked him.

"I'll make sure it gets into the hands of every cop on the beat" he told Paul.

"One more thing Tragg…my men that were killed…how and where were

they killed? To me, it looked like the bodies out front had been placed in the

position I found them in" stated Paul.

"They were actually killed in the hallway and dragged into the office. There

is a clear trail of blood supporting that. The other man was shot at close

range in the back hall. He had no other visible signs of trauma on him and

likely never saw it coming." Tragg replied.

Paul glanced over at Perry. He had not moved and continued to stand staring out the windows.

"Then…the rest of this mess is likely from…"but

Paul couldn't bring himself to say it. He choked up and had to turn away

from Tragg and Burger.

"The rest of this mess is from when they took Della" Perry replied coldly as

he turned around and faced the men. "Mark my words, Tragg. You better

find them first…because…if you don't and I do…I'm going to kill them."

Perry stormed out the back door of the office. Paul ran out after him. Burger

looked around the office in complete shock. He looked at Tragg who was

studying the photo from the Bar Association dinner.

"I've never seen any man act like that over a missing secretary before."

Burger said.

"You take a look at them in this photo and tell me, counselor…do you really

think she's just his secretary?" Tragg replied.

Burger raised his eyebrows as Tragg shoved the picture into his hand and

then left to call the missing persons division of the police department.

Outside, the city was getting a reprieve as the slow moving storm system,

that besieged them all day, finally began to dissipate.


	7. Chapter 7

The small bedroom was lit by a lone Tiffany lamp on a mahogany night

stand. Della slowly opened her eyes and looked over at it…noticing how the

light bounced off the many colors of the glass. Her head felt very heavy and

she made no attempt to sit up. She simply lay in the bed…staring at the

beautiful colors and the intricate glass pattern of the lamp.

"It's exquisite, isn't it?"

Della gingerly pushed herself up to a sitting position. Her first sensation was

throbbing pain. She placed her hand on the back of her head and felt a tender

lump. Then, she touched her fingers to the side of her face and her lips. She

winced slightly in pain and looked around the room. In the corner, she saw

the shadowed outline of stocky man sitting in a plush, overstuffed chair.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked. She looked around the room, but

could make out very little in the darkness.

"Who I am is of no importance right now. You are a guest in my home" the

man replied very politely.

Della looked down at her clothing and saw her skirt and blouse were both

ripped and caked in dried blood. The memory of the attack flooded her mind

and her pulse began to race. "Look…I don't know what you want, but it

would be better for all involved if you just let me go. I don't know what you

look like. I wouldn't be able to identify you…so …please, just let me go"

Della pleaded.

"Ordinarily, I wouldn't decline the request of such a beautiful woman, but

my answer must be no. See…only Mr. Mason can barter for your release."

"I don't understand. What exactly do you want from Mr. Mason and what

makes you think he will exchange it for me?" she asked.

With that…the man stood up and slowly walked towards the bed. Della tried

to stand and move away to the opposite side, but she became lightheaded

and sat back down…holding her hands to the back of her head. Her eyes

filled with hot tears. The man sat next to her on the bed. She began to

tremble and refused to look at him.

"Now, now Miss Street…I won't hurt you " he said softly as he touched his

right hand to her cheek.

She forcefully knocked his hand away. Angry tears streamed down her

cheeks. "All evidence is to the contrary" she replied spitefully…still not

making eye contact with him.

"Well…I am sorry about that" he said… taking out a handkerchief from his

pocket and trying to wipe the tears from the side of her face. "I told my men

not to hurt you so you can imagine how furious I was when they brought you

here in this condition."

She angrily knocked his hand away again. "Just tell me what you want." she

asked as she wiped her own tears away with her fingers.

"You" he stated simply as he moved closer to her.

"What do you mean 'me'?" she asked fearfully. She looked at him for the

first time. He was stocky…not very tall…blue eyed…light brown hair with

very little gray and a moustache. His cheeks were rosy and he had a slight

double chin. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him.

The man smiled, stood up and walked back to the corner. Della let out a sigh

of relief, but it was short-lived. The man grabbed the plush chair and pulled

it over to the bed where he sat down in it directly in front of her. She tried to

back away from him by moving to the middle of the bed, but he grabbed her

legs and pulled her to him. The action caused her skirt to rise up and he took

his hands and ran them slightly under it…allowing them to rest between her

thighs…just above the knees.

"No" she said shaking her head and tightening her leg muscles to keep his

hands from moving any further. She then tried to push his hands out from

under her skirt. He could feel her trembling. When he looked into her eyes,

he could see a fresh stream of tears ready to fall upon her cheeks. He

removed his hands from her body and retrieved his handkerchief. Again, he

tried to wipe away her tears. She turned her face away from him, but he took

his hand and turned her face back towards him. Then, he leaned in very

closely and rested his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and breathed

in deeply. Della could feel and smell his breath upon her face. She turned

away from him again. He did not move or open his eyes this time, but

allowed himself to stay suspended in mid-air for a brief moment…a smile

turning up his lips.

Without warning, he reached across and grabbed Della's hands in his own.

She tried to pull away, but he wrapped her arms behind her back and pressed

his lips into her neck in a soft kiss. As Della fought to pull back from him,

she fell almost completely onto her back on the bed. The more she leaned

back away from him, the more determined he was to kiss her. He released

her arms so he could wrap his around her, but she brought her hands up and

tried to fight him back. He then grabbed her wrists, pinned her to the bed,

laid his body on top of hers, and continued to press kisses into her neck and

chest. Believing he had a secure grip on her, he allowed his lips to part

during one of the kisses and he ran his tongue down her neck and back up

before deciding to finally kiss her mouth. He pressed his body into her as he

moved in for the kiss. Della could feel the excitement building in him as he

pressed into her a second time and knew she had to act now. She brought her

knee up and managed to hit him in the groin. He yelled in pain…releasing

her hands as he did so. She then brought her right fist across and hit him

flush in the mouth. The combination of the hits caused him to roll off of her.

She jumped up and ran towards the door, but it was locked from the other

side. She turned back around in time to see him get up and head towards her.

He stopped when there were only a few feet between them.

"Such a beautiful moment ruined" he said as he brought his fingers to his

busted lip. He could taste the blood in his mouth.

Della glared back at him angrily. "Beautiful for whom?" she asked as she

moved away from the door, keeping her back pressed to the wall, and trying

to put as much space as possible between them…as if space could really

offer her the protection she needed.

He laughed, narrowed his eyes at Della, and charged across the room at her.

She tried to run, but he grabbed the back of her hair with his left hand and

jerked her backwards. He dragged her to the plush chair by the bed and

shoved her down into it. She tried to get up, but he grabbed her by the back

of her hair again while using his free hand to steady her face. He leaned over

her and pressed his lips against hers. The more she resisted, the tighter his

grip became on her hair and face. Between the force he was exerting on her

head and the hit she took during the kidnapping, her head was pounding in

pain. She felt like she was going to faint. Fearing what would happen to her

if she were unconscious again, Della quit fighting. Over and over again, he

kissed her…forcing her lips apart with his tongue. When he finally released

her, she was gasping for breath…her face covered in a fresh set of tears.

He sat on the bed in front her and smiled. "Now that was more like it. You'll

get used to being with me. We'll make quite the pair…the former convict

and the former legal secretary."

"I thought you said Mr. Mason could barter for my release?" Della asked as

she tried to gain her composure back from the assault.

"I said he could barter, my dear. I didn't say he could do it successfully. You

are not up for trade, but he doesn't know that. I want him to give up

everything…and he'll do it too if it means getting you back. Then, he'll fail

and be left with nothing." The man laughed, walked over to the dresser, and

opened the top drawer.

Della remained in the chair. "You overestimate what I'm worth to him. He

won't give up everything just for me. He wouldn't do that for any woman"

she responded coolly.

The man returned from the dresser and handed her a cobalt blue backless

satin gown with matching robe. Della brought her hand to her mouth in

shock. "Where did you get this?" she whispered.

"Looks familiar, does it?" he asked with a big smile. "I'm going to fix you

something to eat. You must be starved by now. When I come back, I want

you changed into that."

"No" she replied shaking her head from side to side and tossing the gown

and robe to the ground.

He picked them back up and tossed them in her lap. "Don't worry, Miss

Street. I'm exhausted from our evening together. This is just for you to sleep

in…I believe you remember the last time you wore it?"

Della was speechless.

"You see…I've been watching you and Mason for a long time." He picked

up the robe from her lap and ran the soft satin across her cheek. "I guarantee

he will give up everything to get you back. Now, make sure you're changed

by the time I get back or I will change you myself…" he kissed the top of

her head and walked out of the room…locking the door behind him.

Della stood up and slowly began to undress. She walked into a small

bathroom off the side of the bedroom and washed the dried blood from her

hands and arms. She also washed her face and ran her fingers through her

hair. As she put on the gown and tied the robe around her, her mind flooded

with memories of that first night with Perry. She re-entered the bedroom, sat

down in the chair, and began to cry.


	8. Chapter 8

Outside the Brent Building, Perry sat, motionless and exhausted, on the trunk

of his car. The last of the homicide detectives pulled away and the nighttime

scene, which he had been a part of so many times before, slowly returned to

normal. Only one thing kept it from being like any other late night at the

office: Della was gone…snatched away by an unknown enemy…maybe

hurt…maybe being hurt at this very moment…and Perry had failed to

protect her. He shuddered. The storm which had caused

so many problems during the day was nothing more than a memory. The

evening air was crisp and cool. The stars twinkled in the night sky above

him. He looked up at them briefly with a sad smile.

'Della loves gazing at the stars' he thought. His mind wandered to the

countless clear evenings when work had kept them too late. They would

slowly walk out together and Della would glance up at the night sky. He

closed his eyes and pictured the reflection of those stars in her eyes. Even

after he would open the car door for her, she would make him wait a few

seconds so she could get one more peak at them before getting in. 'Funny…'

he thought, 'the stars really are beautiful. I haven't looked at them in a long

time. I've always been too busy looking at her.'

Over and over he heard her words "With my life" and he felt frustrated and

helpless. 'I've loved her for so long. And I didn't get a chance to tell her. I

was waiting for the right moment to say I love you and what if I don't get it?

Surely she knows…especially after those two nights together.' His mind

wandered back to that first time when she led him to the bedroom. 'I wish I

had told her then' he thought painfully. He rubbed the temples of this head.

'What was happening to her right now?' he wondered. He was sure she was

still alive. Wouldn't he feel a terrible rip in the fabric of his very being if she

had been killed in the attack? Then again, her body would have been left

with the others…right? So she must have survived, but whose blood was all

over the floor in the office? How badly had she been injured? Did she need a

doctor? Wouldn't he feel it like a stab in his heart if she had died, due to

some injury, in the hours after the attack?

No…she must be alive. Over and over, this dialogue went on in his mind.

This was part of the torture…part of the pain his enemy wished to inflict

upon him. He tried to set it aside and focus on what needed to be done to get

her back. Still, the images of the blood soaked carpet and bloody finger

prints on the phone haunted him.

Paul, who had followed Perry outside after his meltdown in the law office,

quietly observed his friend from a distance. Words could not express the

feelings of guilt and anguish Paul felt as he watched Perry staring at the

stars. He slowly walked over and stood in front of him. Perry moved over,

making room for Paul. Paul climbed up and the two men sat there in silence

taking in the night sky.

Perry sighed and looked over at Paul. "This is the worst kind of mess."

Paul looked at him. "Yes…it is."

Perry turned his eyes back to the darkened sky.

"I'm in love with her, Paul."

Paul looked at him, but said nothing. Perry glanced at him and then back at

the sky. "I just wanted to say it out loud…to hear myself say it aloud…I

never told her."

"I know you love her, Perry. You'll get to tell her."

Perry cleared his throat and shook his head. "No. There's a big difference.

It's one thing to love someone. It's another thing to be in love with someone.

Do you know what I mean? I need her to know I'm in love with her. I need

her to know I don't want to live without her. I need her to know…so much."

His voice trailed off.

"I know what you mean and…just for the record…I'm sure she knows" Paul

replied quietly.

The two men sat on the back of the car for a few more minutes…each lost in

his own thoughts. The night air was growing colder. A passing car, with its

music turned up too loudly, broke the silent stillness.

"You were right" Perry said painfully as he slid off the trunk of the car and

began to pace around in front of Paul.

"About what?" Paul asked with a hint of shock.

"I've made the worst mistake possible. I should have listened to you and told

Della the truth about the threats. She could have helped protect herself. After

all, we are not dealing with the average woman here" Perry stopped pacing

and turned to face Paul. "If she'd known there was the possibility of trouble

on the horizon, she would have been mentally prepared for it. She may have

been able to escape from the office. Instead, this attack came at her from out

of the nowhere. Can you imagine how terrified she must have been?" He

was barely able to get the last question out. "This is my fault."

"Don't beat yourself up, Perry. You did what you thought was best." With a

smile to lighten the moment, Paul said, "She's going to be mad as hell at

both of us when she finds out. That is not a fight I want to be a part of. You

know, for such a little thing, she's a force to be reckoned with when she's

angry."

Perry looked at him seriously. "I'm counting on it Paul. She'll need that

anger to help her survive this situation."

"Yep…and then we're gonna get it."

Perry half-smiled. "Probably… but I can't worry about that right now. We

need to stay focused on finding her. When do you expect to hear back from

your men?"

"I told them I want a check-in every two hours unless they get a break" Paul

said. "Do you want to head back up to the office and wait with me?" Paul got off

the trunk and stretched.

"No" Perry said as he walked around to the driver's side door. "I'm going

home for a while and then maybe to Della's apartment to look around. Call

me when you hear something."

"Will do" Paul replied as he headed back into the Brent Building.

Perry was barely able to keep his eyes open when he finally made it to the

door of his apartment. His back and shoulders ached as he put the key in the

lock and turned the knob. Tonight would be painful without her. He walked

down the short entry way, turned on the lamp, took off his jacket, and tossed

it over the back of a chair. His attention then turned to the pillows and pallet

that Della had made the night before. He walked around to it and found the

black negligee top and boy-cut lace shorts she had worn. He held the top to

his face and breathed in the lingering scent of her perfume. His heart ached

for her. He laid down on his couch, reaching over to pull a blanket from the pallet on the floor.

He could not get comfortable. He tossed and turned…the memory of last night's love making filled his mind. 'Maybe Ishould just head to Della's' he thought as he stood up and walked over to

pick up his jacket. 'I need to take a look around there anyway.' He looked

down at the black negligee top in his hands and gently folded it. He walked

back to the pallet and placed it on Della's pillow. He then turned to leave

when the phone rang. He looked at his watch. It read 2AM. Hoping it might

be Paul; he rushed over and grabbed the receiver.

"Hello…this is Mason" he said urgently.

"Good evening or should I say morning, counselor" replied the voice…a

voice Perry had grown to hate.

"Release Della now. I want her back now" Perry demanded.

"No" the voice said playfully, "besides, she's asleep. It's been a very

exhausting evening."

"Look you bastard…there better not be one drop of blood in my office that

belongs to her. Do you understand?" Perry growled as his face flushed red.

"Yes…my men told me she put up quite the fight. It took two of them to

subdue her."

This information infuriated Perry.

The voice continued.

"Of course, I love a woman with a little spirit in her. Miss Street definitely

has that. You would not believe the fight she put up against me and all I

wanted was a little kiss or two. By the way, I was right when I told you she

seemed delicious."

Perry could not control his anger. "What do you want from me? Not that it

matters…if you've touched her, you're a dead man!"

"Empty threats are not something I'm terribly interested in" the voice replied

seriously, "and what I want… is everything."

"You've got the only person that means anything to me at all. You and I

both know it. You wrote "Game Over" on the note…well…the game is over

so stop this nonsense and tell me specifically what it will take for you to

release her." Perry's face was flushed with hatred.

"My men stole your financial statements. I know exactly what you're worth,

Mason. Step one is to wire transfer it all to an overseas dummy account.

When you've completed this task, I will call with directions for step 2. Like

I told you before, you have taken much of the beauty in my life away from

me and I will do the same to you. Miss Street is mine until I am satisfied

you've suffered enough. I make no guarantees when she will be released. You

will just have to hope for the best."

"How will I know the account number for the transfer?" Mason asked

furiously.

"It's hanging in your bedroom closet" replied the voice and the line went

dead.

Perry walked down the hall and into his bedroom. When he opened the

closet door, a flood of grief overwhelmed him and he had to hold onto to the

wall to steady himself. Hanging in his closet was the blood stained torn

blouse and skirt Della had worn to work that day. Pinned to her blouse was a

small note with a routing number and account number written across it.


	9. Chapter 9

The morning sun peeked through the curtains covering the two windows of Della's bedroom prison. She'd slept very little the night before. Mostly, she thought of Perry and worried. She had known him many years and was closer to him than anyone except maybe Paul. How had he reacted when he returned from his meeting with Hamilton Burger and found the office destroyed and her missing? What was his reaction to the mysterious dead body? 'He must be frantic right now' she thought. 'I know I would be if the roles were reversed.'

In her mind, she had replayed the attack at the office dozens of times throughout the course of the long night. The vision of the dead body outside the back door…the stinging pain of the hit she had taken across her face. 'I have never been hit by a man' she thought indignantly. As she sat up in bed, she replayed the chilling assault from her captor. She knew she would not be able to hold him off forever. She felt sick to her stomach at the idea of this man being with her. Any longings or fantasies she'd had for other men ceased when she met Perry. She anxiously stood up and walked over to the bedroom window. She looked out and saw she was on the second floor of a home, but nothing looked familiar. 'No neighbors either' she noted as she looked as far around as possible and saw only open land. She checked the lock, but the window was nailed shut. Her thoughts turned back to Perry.

She was head over heels, crazy in love with this man. She knew he felt the same way about her. He didn't have to say it. She could see it in his eyes and feel it in his touch that night, on the couch in her apartment, when they'd kissed for the first time. She knew Perry would move heaven and earth to get her back. The question was: They had only been together a couple of days. What did this man mean when he said he had been watching her and Perry for a long time? What was there to watch? Had their attraction and desire for one another been that obvious? What was he going to ask Perry to give up for her safe return? In her heart, she knew Perry would give up everything for her, but this man…this monster…wasn't even going to take that sacrifice as enough and let her go. He wanted to completely destroy Perry. I have to be strong. This man is trying to tear us apart. He wants to hurt Perry deeply and has chosen me as the weapon. That is simply unacceptable.' she thought as she walked to the other window and checked the lock. It was also nailed shut. She sighed and sat back down on the bed.

Her thoughts turned to the second night they made love and the morning after when she found Perry cooking her breakfast. Her heart flooded with love and, it was in this flood, her resolve was strengthened. She was going to escape and get back to Perry somehow. She was not going to spend the rest her life a prisoner with this man. Her heart, body, and soul belonged only to Perry. If this man thought he was going to keep her, then he was about to have a hell of a fight on his hands. Deep in the innermost part of her being, she was sure Perry was out there, somewhere, fighting for her too.

Very quietly, the door to the bedroom opened. Della's head spun quickly around to see her captor walk in, carrying with him, a tray with eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and coffee which he sat on a table in the corner of the room. He then went back out the door and brought in a tape recording device. Della refused to make eye contact with him as he sat the recorder next to the tray on the table and pulled out a chair for her.

"I brought you some breakfast" he stated pleasantly, "and some entertainment too."

Della remained silent. He walked towards her, but she moved away from him…pulling the cobalt blue silk robe tightly around her.

"Aah…that does look stunning on you. May I see the gown underneath?" he asked with a smile.

"I believe you saw it when you stole it from my apartment" she replied hatefully.

"Yes…but not on you. So, why don't you take the robe off for a moment? Years in prison taught me to appreciate the beauty in so many things, especially the beauty of a woman such as you" he said. The last words dripped off his tongue with a sugary sweetness that repulsed Della.

"Mr. Mason" she emphasized "is the only man I care to have 'appreciate the beauty' of this gown…but then I believe you already know that. I will not take it off!" she stated emphatically and glared back at him. She crossed her arms in a protective manner that sent the signal he was not getting what he wanted from her.

He could not keep his composure. He did not like this new sense of strength and purpose she had gained since their earlier encounter. He stormed across the room towards her, but she did not back down nor did she turn to escape him. He stopped just inches from her and tried to re-compose himself, but her expression was too much for him. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her across the room to the table where he slammed her into the waiting chair.

He leaned in closely to her face as he placed both his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen here, my dear…there is a concept you had better start warming up to very quickly! You are staying with me. It does not matter how many demands he meets…the more the better for his destruction." He allowed his hands to run from her shoulders, down her arms, and then he caressed his thumbs across the top of her breasts before continuing. "You know… I finally spoke to your beloved Mr. Mason on the phone."

Della's eyesslightly widened at this revelation.

"That's right" he said shaking his head up and down. He released her, pulled another chair up in front of her, and sat down.

"As can be imagined, he is most anxious to get you back. I left him instructions for step one." His sinister smile made her skin crawl.

"Well… aren't you so proud of yourself then?" she replied mockingly.

He stood up slightly, leaned into her, placed his hands firmly on either side of her face, and kissed her lips forcefully. She brought her knee up in an attempt to give him a repeat from last night, but he broke the kiss, released one side of her face, pushed her leg back down and held it there. Only inches separated them. She felt his breath upon her and tried to turn her head, but he would not let her. Then, slowly, he let her go and sat back in the chair across from her. Never breaking eye contact, he reached over and hit the play button on the recording device. He smiled with delight as she was forced to listen to a recording of the recent phone call he'd made to Perry.

When the ransom demand was complete, he hit the stop button. "He's a wealthy, successful man. I was too before he sent me briefly back to prison this past year. It's amazing how one can lose so much in such a short amount of time." He reached across and stroked her hair with his hand. She made no move to resist. Her thoughts had gone somewhere else.

"We should live quite well on his money…" Della interrupted him.

"When did you tell him I was 'delicious'?" she asked almost inaudibly.

"What do you mean?" he replied still stroking her hair.

"You said, 'By the way, I was right when I told you she seemed delicious.' When did you say that to him? Just moments ago, you told me you finally spoke to my beloved Mr. Mason. That implies you had never contacted him before…yet, in the recording, you said you were right when you told him I seemed delicious."

"I meant I had finally contacted him for the first time since I won our little game…that's all" he said with a rather puzzled expression.

"What are you talking about? What little game?" she asked.

The man sat there for a moment and studied her expression. Then, he let out a small chuckle…which turned into a full belly laugh…which left his eyes watering with happiness.

"Are you telling me" he asked through his laughter, "you did not know that I had called Mason on two previous occasions and warned him I would come after you?"

Della could not speak. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her.

She diverted her eyes from his gaze.

"I see" he replied. "Well…allow me to catch you up. I was on parole when your Mr. Mason had Hamilton Burger file extortion charges against me. I was sent back to prison. Thanks to my underworld connections, I was not there very long, but it did end up costing me everything I had worked so hard for since my first release from prison. Naturally, I wanted to get even with Mason so I began watching him…looking for signs of weakness…and I found you…the loyal secretary whom his glances lingered upon a little too much for just an employer/employee relationship. You went to dinner together…you went dancing…and that's how I knew…you would be his undoing."

Della was in shock. She felt nauseous. Angry tears filled her eyes and she turned her entire body away from him as she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them to her. She did not want to hear anything else and, yet, she needed to hear everything he had to say. He watched her…waiting for a response.

"Continue" she said quietly.

"My first phone call to Mason was made a couple of nights ago when he took you to dinner at Ferrold's Café."

Della flashed him an angry look and then quickly looked away again.

"I told him I was a little voice from his past come back to haunt him. I let him know I had been watching him for some time and asked if you were as indispensable as you seemed…because I thought you seemed delicious from afar." He stopped his story and studied her expression.

Della wiped her eyes and looked at him. "Is that it? Is that the only time you contacted him?"

"No…I phoned him at his apartment the night after an associate and I ransacked the Paul Drake Detective Agency. I believe you were there with him…were you not?"

Della shot him another angry glance.

"I see" he replied with a smirk. "You didn't know about that call either. Interesting…" He sat back in the chair and tapped his fingers together while he watched her.

"Go on" she said spitefully as she stared into the distance.

"There's not much more to tell. Mason hired Paul Drake to put detectives on you around the clock. I had to step up my efforts to get to you, and, unfortunately people died."

Della quickly turned back to him and sat up quickly on the edge of the chair.

"What do you mean 'people died?' I saw only one dead body that night?" Fear flooded her mind. For a split second, she wondered if Gertie had really left for home that night or if …she couldn't bring herself to think or even say it aloud.

"My men killed three of Drake's detectives just to gain access to you. It started with only two men watching you and then Drake added a third. I still don't know why unless my phone calls were really worrying Mason that much."

Della stood up abruptly and pushed past him. He tried to grab her by the arm and pull her into his lap, but she was too quick. He made no attempt to go after her, but instead chose to remain comfortably in the chair. She walked half-way across the room and turned to face him. Her expression was as cold as ice.

"Perry and Paul knew you were stalking me? Knew you were planning on kidnapping me as revenge against Perry?"

He smiled, got up, and walked over to her. "You are so beautiful." He tried to pull her into an embrace, but she pushed away. He smiled and took another step towards her. "Take off the robe" he demanded.

"I've already told you no" she said defiantly.

"All right then Miss Street. Have it your way…for now. I have some business to attend to" he said looking her body up and down. "But…be assured…when I return…more than just this robe will be coming off."

With that, he turned and briskly walked out of the room…shutting and locking the door behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

Della, shaking with fear and anger, stood alone in the bedroom. Perry had deliberately kept her in the dark. He knew she was in danger and told her nothing. Why would he do that? As quickly as the question popped into her mind, the answer followed: He was trying to protect her. He did not want to worry her. 'Well' she thought angrily to herself as she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, 'I am a little bit beyond worried now.' She thought back to their dinner at Ferrold's Café. 'That phone call was not from Paul. It was from this man and he threatened me. That's the real reason Perry was so upset and angry when I returned to the table. What was it he said to me? "Don't worry Della… it's only a little problem with something Paul's working on for me." Good grief… I can't believe how easily he lied to me!" She rubbed her face with her hands and then looked down at the cobalt blue robe she'd worn the first night they'd made love. Her mind drifted to that first kiss on her couch and her leading Perry towards the bedroom. As soon as they entered, he had engulfed her in kisses and she felt as if her knees would fail her. He gently slid each strap of the gown from her shoulders allowing the gown to fall to the floor. He placed his hands upon her waist and pulled her closely into him. It was then she began to unbutton his shirt and pull it from his body because she could no longer control her need to have his skin upon hers.

Unable to sit still any longer, Della stood up and began to pace around the room. 'I have to get out of here' she thought to herself, 'or at least come up with some type of game plan for when he returns.' She felt sickened when she replayed his words over in her mind. There was no way she was letting anything come off her body without a fight.

Perry sat alone in his bedroom. He had been holding Della's blood stained blouse and skirt for hours. The ashtray on his nightstand was filled with cigarette butts and the smell of smoke hung heavily in the air. The morning sun, which was bright, pushed light throughout his apartment and accentuated the haze created by the spent cigarettes. He looked down at the routing number and account number left by the kidnapper. Perry knew he needed to focus on following the man's demands, but could not move past what he held in his hands. How hurt was Della? She had put up a struggle and it took two men to take her? Was this blood hers or theirs? Finally, his mind rested upon an even more disturbing facet of last night's phone call and his heart began to race with fear: The kidnapper had said he liked a woman with spirit…that Della put up a fight and all he wanted was a kiss. Perry dropped the blood stained clothing on his bed and went into the bathroom to splash himself with cold water. He then grabbed a blue towel off the towel bar and rubbed it across his face. He removed the towel from his face and froze for a split second while he looked at it. Then, he brought the towel to his face again and breathed in deeply…Della's hair…Della's body had been dried by this very towel. Yes…he was sure of it. He pictured her sitting at the table eating the breakfast he'd made her that second morning together. She had this towel wrapped around her hair. 'She looked so happy…so content' he thought to himself, 'and I could not quit staring at this beautiful woman. What miracle was it that she seemed to look at me the same way?' Perry neatly folded the blue towel and hung it back on the towel bar. He walked back into his bedroom and picked up the blood stained clothing. He carried them with him as he walked out of the room and down the hall to the living room. He found his jacket lying on the back of the couch and reached in to retrieve his pocketbook. He knew it was time. He flipped through what seemed like a hundred business cards until he found the one that read "First National Bank, President Harry Hooper." On the back, he found the man's home phone number, written very neatly, 'in case a problem should ever arise and you need personal service, Mr. Mason' he recalled the man tell him one morning when their paths crossed in the bank lobby.

'Well' Perry thought as he went to the phone, 'if ever a matter needed personal service, the transfer of all my private and business accounts certainly qualifies.'

Before he could pick up the receiver, the phone rang loudly. He jumped unexpectedly at the blaring sound and grabbed it quickly.

"Hello…this is Mason."

"Hey Perry, its Paul."

"Paul, I need you to get over here. I had another call last night from the kidnapper and…well you just gotta see it to believe it, I guess" Perry stated as he looked down at the blood stained clothing.

"No can do buddy…listen…we got a lead. I've got my men following up on it, but I need you to get over to my office right away." Paul said hurriedly

Perry's heart skipped a beat. "Is it solid?" he asked. He was already trying to dig his keys out of his jacket pocket.

"Yes, now go…I'll fill you in as soon as you get here." Paul said.

Perry hung up the phone, put on his jacket, grabbed the blood stained clothing, including the banking information… just in case the lead turned out to be a dead end… and sprinted out the door.

After a few phone calls to some rather unsavory business associates, he sat behind his desk and pondered how long he would leave Miss Street to her thoughts before returning to embark on what would certainly be a most pleasurable experience. As he leaned back in his chair, he thought back to all the weeks of watching Mason…of wondering exactly how to extract the most painful revenge upon him…only to discover Miss Street…beautiful Miss Street. Oh…he had noticed her beauty the two previous times he had seen her. He recalled going to see Mason at his office. She had been in there.

'I was so stupid. I wanted to talk to Mason alone and only after I said it did I look over and see this enchanting woman. Before I could protest and say something like "I don't care who hears what I have to say", Mason motioned her out. Then, when we ran into each other at the hospital, Mason didn't even bother to introduce us. Oh…what fun it was to watch Mason all these weeks knowing sooner or later he would slip up and reveal a weakness.

Then, I remember them leaving a Bar Association dinner. He slipped his arm around her while waiting for the valet to bring around the car. She smiled up at him and that's when I saw it… the look of a man and woman in love.

So…here we are…I get my revenge and a little happiness for myself too.'

He stood up and walked over to a brass scroll work mirror that hung on the wall. He ran his hand over his face and felt the stubble. 'Hmmm… I think I'll shower, shave, and chill some champagne. I want our first time together to be memorable.'

With that, he headed downstairs to grab some champagne and put it on ice. He hummed a happy little song as he thought of the upcoming rendezvous.

Perry rushed through the door of the Paul Drake Detective Agency. Paul was sitting on top of his desk… talking on the telephone when Perry entered and walked over to stand directly in front of him. Paul held up his finger as if to signal 'hold on a minute.' Perry looked him in the eye and then tossed the bloody clothing in his lap. Paul cradled the phone between his ear and neck and held up Della's blood stained blouse. His eyes grew wide as he then looked at the blood stained skirt.

"Yeah…okay…yeah…um…I'll have to get back to you on that" he said as he tried to focus on the phone call, clothing, and Perry's expression all at the same time. "Alright then, bye." Paul hung up the receiver and looked at Perry. "Where on earth did you get these?" he asked.

"Recognize them? They're Della's…that is what she wearing the night she was taken, Paul. It's the kidnapper's idea of a sick joke…aimed solely at torturing me as much as possible... knowing I'll give him anything to get her back." Perry paced around the room with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets as he spoke. "You know what he said to me when he called Paul?"

"Wait a minute…he contacted you again?" asked Paul.

"Yes…he called me again in the middle of the night. He told me all about the struggle Della put up when they attacked her and that it took two men to kidnap her. Then, he told me he likes a woman with spirit and that Della put up a fight against him when he tried to kiss her."

Perry's eyes met Paul's and Paul could see the anger burning behind them.

He thought of Della and wondered if she…if she had been…if this man had…his mind couldn't fathom it and would not allow for him to complete the sentence nor could he say anything like that to Perry. 'As if he hasn't already thought the same thing a hundred times' Paul said to himself.

"And these are her clothes." Paul stated flatly.

Again, Perry's eyes flashed with a dangerous look of anger Paul had never seen before. Perry walked over to him and took the clothes. "I don't know how he got them from her, but if this is her blood…if he…if he touched her or…did anything at all to her after these clothes were…" he looked away from Paul. Paul placed a reassuring hand upon his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.

"Hey, Perry. Don't think like that, okay?"

"I can't help it, Paul." He walked away and sank down in a chair across the room. "What's this lead you got?"

As soon as Perry spoke, the phone rang.

"Hold on a minute, Perry. This should be my man now." Perry took out a cigarette and lit it while Paul answered the phone.

"Hello? Yeah Faulkner…what'd you find out?" There was a pause while Paul listened to Faulkner. Perry felt like time had suddenly stood still.

Finally, Paul spoke again.

"You're kidding! No…no…don't call the cops. The sirens will give us away. You meet us there." Paul looked at Perry and made a motion for him to get up and come to him.

Perry quickly put out the cigarette, got up, and walked over to Paul.

"Thanks Faulkner. Give your man in the Coroner's Office a little extra something. He may have very well saved Della's life." When Perry heard those words, he circled his right hand in a motion that meant 'wrap it up/let's move along.'

"Okay," Paul continued, "we'll see you soon."

Paul hung up and looked at Perry. He took a deep breath, smiled, and said, "I think we found the bastard and you will never guess in a million years who we think it is…let's go and I'll tell you about it in the car." The two men hurried out of the office and sprinted to the parking garage.


	11. Chapter 11

The hot steam from the shower felt wonderful. As he opened the bathroom door, the cool air from the adjacent room hit his body sending goose bumps down his arms and legs. 'How refreshing' he thought. He wiped the steam from the mirror and rubbed his hand across his now newly shaven face. He combed his hair back, splashed on some aftershave, and walked into his bedroom where he put on a pair of burgundy silk boxers, burgundy silk pajama pants, and a burgundy smoking jacket that had fine pin stripes of grey. After stopping one more time to look in the mirror, he smiled, picked up the bucket with the champagne, two glasses and headed down the hallway towards Della's room. Before reaching the door, he sat everything on the hall table and, remembering the fight she had given him the night before, he pulled out a small revolver from the table drawer, and slipped it into his jacket pocket. Then, he picked up the keys from the same table, unlocked the door, retrieved the bucket of ice, champagne, and glasses and entered the room.

"Hello?" he called out as he entered. He turned just in time to see Della raise the Tiffany glass lamp over her head. He dropped the bucket and champagne. Ice and shards of glass shattered across the floor as he got his arms up just in time to keep the lamp from striking him in the head. He grabbed the lamp and a tug-of- war ensued for control of it as he and Della fought each other. Getting a firm hold on part of the lamp with both his hands, he used the force of his body to propel the lamp back towards her…slamming her into the wall behind the bedroom door. The jolt caused her to lose her grip on the lamp and he tossed it across the room. She gained her balance and tried to run out of the door, but he caught her by the arm and jerked her back into the room. She lost her balance and fell onto the ground…cutting her legs and hands on the broken glass. He reached down, grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up. He then pulled her across the room and threw her onto the bed. She was no match for his size and strength.

He quickly jumped onto the bed and pinned her down by sitting on top of her hips. He tried to pull her robe apart. "I told you I wanted this robe OFF and you will learn to do as your told. You're mine now do you understand?," he growled, but she swung up with her fist and caught him in the side of his head as she screamed "No!"

He grabbed both her wrists and forced her arms under his knees thus rendering her defenseless against his assault. He pulled the robe apart and buried his lips in her chest.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Paul and Perry sped away from the parking garage of the Brent Building.

"Where are we headed Paul?" Perry asked in a very grave tone.

"Perry… we're heading out towards the old location of Orchids Unlimited. There's a house attached to the land out there. It is quiet. It is secluded and…I think that's where Della is being held." Paul stated.

"What? How? I don't understand." Perry exclaimed.

"I sent Faulkner to the Coroner's Office this morning to see if he could retrieve the small notepads or any of the other paperwork my men would have had on them at the time they were murdered. We hit pay dirt Perry." Paul said seriously as he changed lanes.

Perry said nothing, but sat waiting for Paul to continue.

"Jones…the man found by the back door of the office? He was the detective I had assigned to watch the outside of the building so it struck me kind of strange that he would be inside the building."

"He wasn't who you were supposed to meet then?" asked Perry.

"No" replied Paul, "He had just started his shift. Guess what he had written down on his notepad for 5:20 PM?"

"What?" asked Perry.

"Mail truck turned into back parking lot at 5:20 PM. Mail should not be running this late. Vehicle looks suspicious…does not have government plates. YTG-34R."

"He was right. No mail trucks come to the building that late" responded Perry. "Did you trace the license plate?"

"You bet…and it is not a U.S. postal truck. It is a standard delivery truck having once belonged to Orchids Unlimited." Paul stated.

Perry sat bewildered. "What do you mean 'having once belonged to Orchids Unlimited' Paul?" Perry's mind wandered to the morning he and Della entered her office and found all the bundles of the orchids. What had she said? She always hated going out to Orchids Unlimited because the smell reminded her of funerals.

"It now belongs to one…Harry Marlow." Paul stopped waiting for a reaction from Perry.

"That's impossible. He's in prison. Besides, where would he get the money to buy all that up?" Perry asked quietly while the anger swelled inside him.

"No it isn't impossible, Perry. He's been out of prison for a while and my sources tell me he's back up to no good with his former mob associates."

Perry quickly turned his head and locked his eyes onto Paul's. "How long is a while?" he asked.

"Months…he bought the business, its equipment and all the surrounding land for a cheap price when the prior owner passed away from her heart ailment." Paul stated. Perry said nothing.

Paul continued, "Look Perry…it all adds up. My office was ransacked but only files from L and M were missing. I had a whole file on Marlow from when you had me follow him that time…remember when we thought he might have poisoned that lady's candy? The missing files from my office are definitely his and what about the break in?… The man I fought with during that ordeal was very husky… so is Marlow. I think he has gone after Della to get back at you for helping send him back to prison on extortion charges."

Perry sat quietly and pictured Marlow in his mind. His gut instinct told him Paul was right. Perry cringed at the thought of this man putting his hands on Della. Had he already forced himself upon her? She would be no match for his physical strength. Even if Perry got her back, she would live with the emotional scars of the assault for the rest of her life. Thus, knowing she had been hurt because of his line of work, would then torture him the rest of his life Overwhelming anger filled Perry as Paul slowly drove down the dirt road that would take them to the old homestead near Orchids Unlimited.

Paul put the car in park and turned if off. He looked to his right and saw Faulkner's car parked off behind some brush. Faulkner was out and walking towards them.

"We should walk from here…just to be safe and preserve the element of surprise too." Paul indicated.

Perry nodded in agreement and then reached into Paul's glove compartment. He pulled out 2 revolvers. Paul watched him intently. Without speaking, Perry handed him one of the loaded guns and kept the other for himself. Faulkner waited for them to get out of the car.

"Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?" Paul asked Faulkner as he opened the car door and exited.

"It was really quiet up until a few minutes ago. There's been some shouting and sounds of things breaking," replied Faulkner. Paul looked over at Perry. He seemed as if he were in a trance.

"Perry?" Paul said.

"Let's go," Perry stated hatefully as he ran down the path leading to the home. Paul and Faulkner followed him with both their guns drawn. As he walked, Perry again heard Della's words, "With my life" and he thought back to the vow he made to her that night as she slept on the pallet in front of the fireplace. Now, he would make good on that promise.

'Harry Marlow' he thought, 'you are a dead man.'

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Harry Marlow stopped his assault upon Della's chest long enough to whisper, "This isn't very comfortable now, is it?" He pushed himself up so that he was no longer crouched on top of her in such an awkward position. Slowly, he shifted his weight from his knees allowing her arms and hands to be freed. However, as quickly as he did this, he grabbed each of her wrists with his hands and pushed her arms out straight over her head. As he did so, he slid his body down so that he was lying on top of her. Slowly and rhythmically, he pressed his body into her…each thrust intensifying his excitement. He softly kissed her cheeks, her mouth, his tongue flicked her earlobe...the wetness causing her to turn her head away from his mouth in disgust.

She was powerless to stop him. She tried to focus on a way out... find a weak point she could monopolize on... focus on anything else than what was about to happen.

"Let me love you" he whispered in her ear. His breath felt hot. Della struggled against him as he pressed his lips and then teeth into her neck. The bite shocked her and she cried out. He caught her eyes with his own and gave her a wicked smile. He released one of her wrists and, with his free hand, reached down to try and pull up the cobalt blue gown. She instinctively brought her own hand down to stop him. With her hand clenching his, he looked into her eyes again. They were filled with angry tears. He smiled, ran his tongue across her bottom lip and rolled off of her. "Still so defiant," he laughed.

Della sat up quickly…clutching at the robe and pulling it back around her body. Her breathing was very heavy and her hands were shaking as she tried to compose herself. Marlow stood up and began taking off his robe.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Perry, Paul, and Faulkner proceeded to the front door of the two-story home. Perry's mind briefly drifted back to the many times he came to visit the prior owner. She suffered from a poor heart and Perry always took great care to not upset her on their visits particularly when it came to that gambling, alcoholic bum she had married. Paul gently tapped on the front door while the other two men hung back. All were waiting to see if anyone answered. When no one did, Paul slowly twisted the knob and pushed open the door. Perry followed him in and noted very little had changed in the decor of the front entry way. Faulkner followed Perry and Paul and then set out on his own into the living room on the right to check things out. Perry and Paul started to climb the staircase when they heard Faulkner clear his throat. They looked back at him. He was motioning for them to come back down to the living room. When they entered the room, Faulkner pointed to the corner.

Just behind the couch, the legs of two dead bodies were visible. Paul walked over to inspect them. He could tell they'd been dead for many hours. Both were wearing postal uniforms.

"They've both been shot" whispered Paul, "but this one looks like he's had the tar beat out of him."

Perry glanced at Paul and nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. Paul motioned for Faulkner to come with them. Two loud crashing sounds followed by a woman's scream upstairs shattered the silence of the home.

"Della" Perry said urgently to Paul as he turned to race towards the stairs followed by the other two men

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Della watched in horror as Marlow slowly slipped off his robe and laid it across the foot of the bed. As he started to untie the string of his pajama bottoms, she jumped off the opposite side of the bed and ran across the room.

"Oh no you don't" he laughed as he chased after her. She ran behind the table in the corner, picked up the tray from breakfast, and threw it at him. It made a loud crashing noise as he dodged it. Marlow, in response, picked up the table and threw it sideways into the wall. Della screamed and tried to run past him, but he caught her around the waist and carried her struggling body back to the bed. He threw her down and she landed on her stomach. She tried to crawl across the bed away from him, but he caught her legs and pulled her back towards him…pulling the gown up in the process. With his left hand, he grabbed the back of her hair and pushed her face down into the mattress. She cried out in pain while he fidgeted with getting his pajamas down with his right hand. As he struggled, she lunged forward and fell head first off the side of the bed into the broken shards of glass...she let out another painful scream.

Perry was the first to reach the top of the landing. He looked around frantically trying to decide which room to go to when he heard a woman cry out and he heard a man's voice reply, "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way, Miss Street."

Perry quickly, but quietly moved in the direction of the voice with Paul and Faulkner close on his heels. The bedroom door was slightly cracked open from where Marlow had forgotten to shut and lock it after Della hit him with the lamp. Perry barely pushed on it with the tips of his fingers. The site revealed to him made him forget all reason as blinding fury engulfed his mind and body. Marlow, half clad, had Della pinned to the floor where she had fallen near the side of the bed.

Perry flew across the room completely taking Marlow by surprise. He lifted him off of Della and slammed him backwards into the wall. He held him there by his throat and then let go so that he could draw back and punch him several times in the face and torso. Although physically larger than Perry, Marlow was no match for the fury rising up from within in him as nearly two days of worry and rage unleashed itself.

Paul and Faulkner, who had followed Perry into room, noted it looked like a disaster area of broken glass and furniture…the result of Della and Marlow's earlier confrontations. Faulkner made a move to go break up the fight between Perry and Marlow, but, catching site of Della lying on the floor, Paul stopped him. He knew vindicating Della was something Perry simply had to do if he was to begin to move past what had happened.

Motioning for Faulkner to keep his gun on Perry and Marlow, Paul quickly moved towards the floor to try to check Della's condition. Pulling her up, he took off his trench coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. She was conscious but definitely shell shocked. Perry quickly joined Paul's side...leavng Marlow slumped against the wall.

Perry looked into Della's tear streaked face...noting the busted bottom lip, bruising, and bite marks on her neck. He felt nauseous. "Della? Della, please say something…" Perry begged.

When their eyes met, she threw her arms around Perry's neck. Hugging her closely to him, he buried his face in her hair and then her neck as he kissed her repeatedly. "I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over. Paul stood up and helped Perry get Della up so he could carry her and her bare feet into the hallway and away from the broken glass. As Perry and Della held onto each other in the hallway, Paul searched for a phone to call homicide and an ambulance.

Faulkner walked cautiously over to Marlow to check him out. He took his pulse and noted his breathing appeared okay. Perry, still clutching Della to him, watched Faulkner check the monster's vital signs.

"Let's tie him up until Tragg and his boys get here, " Perry stated. Faulkner shook his head "yes" and started looking around the room to find something to use as rope. He saw Marlow's robe on the bed and reached over to get the silk belt.

"The police are on their way, Perry, " Paul said as he climbed back up the stairs.

Reaching over and gently squeezing Della's shoulder, he asked with great concern, "You okay, beautiful?" She let go of Perry and gave Paul a warm hug.

Choked up by her display of affection, Paul smiled and said,"I will take that as a yes." Della returned his smile and shook her head affirmatively. Approaching police and ambulance sirens could be faintly heard in the distance.

No sooner had the words come out of Paul's mouth, there was a loud crash in the bedroom causing everyone's attention to focus back to the open door.

Faulkner yelled, "What the hell!"

Marlow shoved Faulkner backwards as he tried to tie him up. Lunging forward towards the bed, Marlow grabbed the gun he had placed inside his robe. As he stood and pointed the barrel towards the hallway, he laughed aloud, locked eyes with Perry and yelled, "Now, the game is truly over, Mason!" He took aim at Mason and fired as, from the ground, Faulkner drew his gun and fired off two defensive shots leveling Marlow instantly. Faulkner then ran over and kicked the gun away from Marlow's hand, but it was too late.

"Perry?" Paul yelled frantically.

Perry turned around in time to see Della slump in Paul's arms…her cobalt

blue gown and Paul's trench coat soaked in bright red blood.


	12. Chapter 12

Paul sat alone in his car which was parked in the emergency room parking lot of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He leaned forward and placed his head against the steering wheel. Della's dried blood covered his shirt and pants. He felt physically ill and could not pull himself together enough to go in and find Perry…not yet anyway. His mind went back to the moment he found his men murdered in the Brent Building and how all his experiences in World War II had not prepared him fully for that night. Nothing had prepared him for this tragedy either…sure he had seen many gunshot wounds before, butthis was different. 'Oh Della' he thought.

In the split second after the gunshot, Della's eyes met his...her expression flooded his mind like a tidal wave and reinforced his growing nausea…that look of realization which played across her face…that brief exchange of truth and fear that took place between them, haunted him now and physical pain shot through his body. He closed his eyes and the events leading up to his presence…here…in the hospital parking lot replayed themselves in his mind.

'What did I say? I asked if she was okay. I squeezed her shoulder. She hugged me and smiled and then ...' It all happened so fast yet he felt like he was moving in slow motion. He heard a crashing sound and Faulkner yelling and they all turned to see what was happening and Marlow threatened Perry but he and Faulkner fired at the same time and he felt something heavy in his arms. It was Della. She was leaning into him and their eyes met. 'She had fear and pain in her eyes' thought Paul as he leaned all the way back in his seat and stared at the roof of his car. He then closed his eyes and painfully relived his best friend falling apart.

"Perry?" Paul called out desperately.

Perry turned around in time to see Della soaked in bright red blood. "NO!" Perry shouted as he scooped Della out of Paul's arms. "God, no, no, no" he repeated over and over as he gently held her to him. There was so much blood that it was difficult to ascertain the exact location of her wound. Through his tears, Perry choked out the orders for Paul to begin tearing apart the pillow cases from the bedroom into bandage like strips while he yelled for Faulkner to meet the arriving ambulance personnel and direct them up to the room. Faulkner ran out like a rocket as Perry took the make-shift bandages and applied pressure to the area where Della was bleeding.

"Damn it, Paul. She's soaking through the bandages too fast. Grab that pillow and let's prop her up a little." Perry's face was colorless and grief stricken as he carefully wrapped his arms around Della and lifted her so Paul could slide a pillow under her.

Unable to hold himself together any longer, tears streamed down Perry's face as he held the bandages to Della. Paul had to turn his gaze away. He could not fathom that Della might be dying right in front of them. He also felt like an intruder in this intimate moment between Perry and Della as her life hung in the balance and, in a large measure, Perry's life too… for Perry would be nothing without Della and would blame himself and his job forever if it led to her demise. Paul sat on the edge of the scene…holding Della's hand in his own and gently stroking it while trying to block out Perry's voice at the same time.

Tears streamed down his face as he whispered to her.

"Oh God, just hold on darling. The ambulance is here, please hold on…Della, please don't leave me. I can't live without you. Do you know that?" His voice cracked as his emotions got the best of him. Paul glanced at him, but turned his head away just as quickly again. The pain was too great to witness.

"I love you…I love you so much…I've loved you from the first moment I saw you…you're all I ever think about…you're all that matters…I'm so…so sorry…please hang on." Perry continued to whisper as he leaned in and covered her forehead and then lips with soft kisses. "Can you hear me? I love you…I love you more than my own life…please don't leave me…I don't want to go on without you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but it's always been you…no one else Della…only you...don't go… there's no life without you."

Perry's face was covered in tears and he leaned his head down to his own arm to wipe his face…yet never relinquished any of the pressure he was applying to Della's wounds The voices of the medical technicians could be heard outside the house.

"God, please" he whispered, "I can't live without her…I don't want to live without her. My life would be empty, please God spare her and give her strength to just hold on." His hands were covered in her blood and the air around him was filled with a sickening mix of the blood and the burn of the smoke from the gunshots.

"Paul…" Perry croaked out. "She feels so cold. Get that blanket and cover her up."

Paul rushed to the bed and grabbed a small blanket... spreading it out on top of Della. He also handed Perry some fresh pillow case bandages to apply to Della's wound.

"Paul, you hold these down firmly over the bullet wound. I'm going to see if I can get her body temperature up."

Paul placed his hands on top of Perry's then Perry slid his out from under Paul's so that a seamless transition had been made. Perry tucked the blanket

in around Della and wrapped his massive arms around her. He rubbed one of her arms up and down and softly whispered in her ear.

"I love you Della…just hold on a little longer. The ambulance is

here. The men are on their way up the stairs now." With that Perry buried his face into her and pressed soft kisses into her hair, neck, shoulder, and arm. "Please, please hold on a little longer."

Paul rubbed his hands across his face and sat back up in the front seat of his car. Everything after the ambulance getting to the house and taking Della had been a blur. Perry was shaking as she was loaded onto the stretcher. Even Lieutenant Tragg was visibly shaken as he ascended the stairs only to find a ghostly pale Della being loaded onto a stretcher and an equally pale Perry Mason praying over her. Paul had stayed behind, along with Faulkner, to give statements to the police. Tragg, equally worried about Della, had told Paul he would not try to contact Perry until much later to get his statement. Paul had thanked him and Lieutenant Tragg had actually shaken his hand and given him a squeeze on the arm before Paul left to head to the hospital. 'Man, he'd never done anything like that before' thought Paul as he looked at himself in the rear view mirror before opening the door to get out and head towards the emergency room doors. 'Della means so much more to people than I think even she realizes' Paul told himself as he quickened his pace.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Perry's mind was numb as he sat alone in the emergency room of Cedar's-Sinai Medical Center. In slow motion, he replayed the gunshot and then thevision of Della's blood soaking her gown and Paul's coat as she collapsed in Paul's arms. He had rushed to her and held her body to his own before gently placing her

on the ground. He had tried to stop the bleeding, but couldn't and had relied on impassioned pleas to her and God not to leave him alone…to just hold on a little longer. After all, he was a lawyer. He had always relied on words before… when pleading cases before juries or arguing in front of judges on the behalf of clients whose lives hung in the balance. Now, in his mind, these arguments…his pleas were being made in front of the most important judge and jury that could ever be rolled into one… God…only instead of trying to win a case for a client, he was trying to save the life of the person he loved more than his own life…in his mind he was making an impassioned plea in the courtroom of God to not take the one person who meant more to him than anyone else while also making a plea to her not to give up, but to be strong and hold on for him. Yes…he was trying to save Della, but he was also trying to save himself…for he doubted his own ability to make it if she were taken from him.

His mind wandered back to the ambulance ride. When he'd tried to climb in before Della was loaded, the attendant tried to stop him. The blazing glare he had given the young man said it all and no other attempts were made to keep him from going with her to the hospital. The ride seemed to take forever and his guilt wrapped around him so tightly that he had trouble breathing at times. He had leaned down and delicately nuzzled his head against the side of hers. Over and over again, he professed his love and need for her. He begged her to hang on a little while longer…to be strong for them…he told her if she could just make it to the hospital…to a doctor…then it would be okay and he could then be strong enough for both of them. As they rounded the last corner and were within seconds of the emergency room, her blood pressure had taken a dangerous dip and Perry had to sit back while the attendant worked on stabilizing her. As he sat back, the tears streamed down his face and he prayed to God…no…he begged God again not to take her from him…not to leave him alone. Perry's guilt was tremendous. He had no idea whether she'd been beaten repeatedly as her injuries seemed to suggest or had been raped by Marlow. All he knew was the entire situation had been his fault. His longing…his need…his desire to love her and be loved by her had caused someone to target her as revenge against him. If she lived, would this happen again?

'God…listen to me…' he thought. 'Did the phrase "if she lived" really just float through my mind?' The jerking stop of the ambulance as it reached the emergency room brought Perry back to reality. He leaned over and gave Della several soft kisses on the forehead, cheeks, and lips as he rushed along side the attendants as they, in turn, transported the love of his life through the emergency room doors.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Paul scanned the emergency room waiting area. There, alone in a corner, he found Perry. Paul stepped back and tried to compose himself before approaching his best friend. Perry had the look of a beaten man. His hair was disheveled… his clothing rumpled and coated in dried blood…his face appeared to have aged significantly and was lined with stress and worry.

Paul took a deep breath and slowly walked across the room towards Perry. Perry's gaze locked upon Paul's and nothing was said as Paul knelt down in front of him. Paul gave Perry a reassuring squeeze on his forearm, cleared his throat, and finally spoke.

"How's Della?"

Perry looked away. Paul reached across and gave him another reassuring squeeze on the forearm and spoke again in a very hushed tone. "How is she?"

Perry took a deep breath. "They're still working on her. I haven't heard anything yet from the doctor."

Without another word, Paul sat down next to Perry and, together, they waited in silence.


	13. Chapter 13

Perry and Paul sat in the emergency room waiting room for what seemed like an eternity. Each man was lost in his own thoughts. Paul glanced periodically at Perry and what he saw scared him. Perry's face was pale. His eyes were vacant and, without realizing it, he was tracing a pattern with his finger around a patch of dried blood on the cuff of his sleeve. Unable to take the silence or worry any longer, Paul chose his words very carefully and spoke in a hushed tone.

"You are not to blame for what's happened."

Perry did not look at him, but stopped tracing the pattern with his finger. He brought both his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes. When he spoke, he could barely get out his words. "Do you think they've lost her?" His voice quivered slightly when he said lost and he placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.

"No" responded Paul. "I don't think she's gone. They would have already been out to tell us."

Perry took his hands from his face and sat back up. His pale skin had taken on a flushed color across the cheeks which matched his bloodshot eyes.

"Then it must be very bad…because we've been here for nearly two hours without an update."

"You want me to go and talk to the nurse?" Paul asked wearily.

"No" replied Perry. "I've had enough of this waiting. I'll go." With that, he stood up and walked towards the nurse's station. A young nurse with a very kind face looked at the stricken man approaching her and made note of the blood stained clothing on his body. She greeted him with a sympathetic smile. "Yes sir…may I help you?"

"I hope so. I came by ambulance with Miss Della Street. She was the victim of a shooting. I've been waiting for a very long time and hoped I could get an update on her condition" Perry said as politely as he could. What he really wanted to do was bust through the doors and go room to room until he had located both Della and her doctors.

"Are you family?" asked another, much older nurse who had just entered the nurse's station. Her voice held little sympathy and Perry, whose nerves were already frazzled, was immediately taken aback and put on guard. He took a deep breath and replied, "No…I'm not family…not yet anyway."

"Well, I am sorry but we can't give updates to anyone but a family member…hospital policy" replied the nurse matter of factly.

Perry leaned across the counter and looked her straight in the eyes. "I don't give a damn what your hospital policy states. The most important person in the world to me …the woman I love more than my own life, is somewhere back there possibly dying from a gunshot wound and, if I have to bust through those doors and look for her myself… I will… but I am going to find out what the hell is going on! Have I made myself clear?"

The fire in his eyes and further rise of color in his cheeks caused the older nurse to draw a deep breath and bring her hand to her chest. "I will go look for the doctor. Please have a seat. It should only be a few minutes."

Perry walked back over to Paul and sat down next to him. Paul, who had overheard the entire encounter, remained quiet as Perry again lost himself in his own thoughts. The minutes ticked by like hours.

"Yes…I am" Perry stated suddenly.

"Yes, you are what?" asked Paul as he turned his body to face Perry.

Perry turned his body also and both men sat for a split second looking each other directly in the eyes.

"Yes…I am to blame for what's happened" Perry stated. Paul realized Perry had been mulling over what he had said to him earlier and, with great relief, tried to get Perry's feelings of guilt out into the open...better to talk it out than keep it bottled up.

"You had no way of knowing someone like Marlow would target Della in order to get to you. All the years you've been an attorney, no one has ever targeted you or anyone you cared about in an act of revenge. What would make you see it as even a remote possibility now?" asked Paul.

"I don't know, Paul. I don't know why anyone would ever do what Marlow did to Della…do you think he…I mean…you saw as well as I did how she was dressed…what was going on when we found her…do you think he…"

Perry could not bring himself to say it.

Paul flinched at the very thought of what Perry was trying to say and the vision of Marlow on top of Della when they entered the room flooded his mind. Paul clenched his fists and looked down at the ground. "I don't know, Perry. I mean…we saw the same thing, you know. Only Della will be able to tell you for sure or…maybe the doctor if he finds any signs of it during her examination, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean. You think Della would tell me if Marlow had?" Perry asked quietly.

"Maybe…women can be hard to read in these circumstances or at least that's what I've found when dealing with it in my line of work. Many don't want to talk about it at all; especially to the men they love." Paul paused and placed his hand on Perry's shoulder. "If he did, does it change your feelings for her?"

"Hell no…do you even have to ask? You know me better than that" Perry said angrily.

"All right…all right…that's not what I mean. You are wrongly blaming yourself for what's happened. If he did rape her…" Perry winced at Paul's use of the word, "then will you be able to move on, make a life with her and get past the guilt?"

"Nothing will keep me from her, Paul." Perry replied. "What concerns me more is whether she'll forgive me?"

"Again, you shouldn't be blaming yourself. You had no way of knowing" but Perry interrupted him.

"I know Della won't blame me for Marlow targeting her, Paul. I mean…when she finds out I knew all along she was in danger and did not tell her, will she forgive me? Especially if he did…force himself upon her?"

"That is something only she can answer, Pal. We've discussed this before. She's going to be mad as hell…at both of us too. Forgiveness will be solely up to her." Both men were so engrossed in conversation; they did not see the emergency room physician approach them.

"Mr. Mason?" he asked very politely.

"Yes," Perry said as he stood up quickly and extended his hand to the man.

"My name is Dr. Blanton. I'm the ER attending physician on call this weekend."

The doctor shook Perry's hand and motioned for him to return to his seat. He then pulled up a chair, took off his surgical cap, wiped it across his forehead, and shoved it in the pocket of his scrubs. Perry never took his eyes off the man and waited as patiently as possible for him to complete this brief task.

"I don't know if you remember me, but I attended one of the L.A. Bar Association events last year with my wife, Judith. We met briefly."

"Yes…yes…I know your wife. She's a very gifted lawyer." Perry smiled weakly.

"Thank you. I know she always speaks very highly of you and we do enjoy following your cases in the papers. I'm sorry we're meeting under these circumstances. The nurse spoke with me and explained your relationship to Miss Street. Frankly, I would have broken hospital protocol and given you a status update even without the nurse's information. It was fairly evident to me when we met that the two of you shared a special affinity for one another." Perry again forced a weak smile. "You're a lucky man. She is a very enchanting woman," continued Dr. Blanton.

"Enchanting… yes, she is," Perry repeated the adjective used by the doctor.

"And Mr. Mason?" the doctor asked as he reached out and placed his hands on Perry's shoulders. Perry met his gaze with a questioning expression.

"She's going to be just fine." Dr. Blanton smiled widely at him as he saw relief flood across Perry's face.

"She is?" Perry choked out. Paul was beaming and slapped Perry across the back before wiping his own hands across his tear filled eyes.

"Yes" replied Dr. Blanton. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to come out and speak with you, but I wanted to make sure. You see, with any gunshot wound, survival is dependent upon the point of entry. In Miss Street's case, the bullet did not strike any bones or vital organs. She suffered only a flesh wound. Now it bled rather profusely because the bullet did damage quite a few blood vessels, but nothing that we couldn't repair. Frankly, the biggest threat to her was hypovolemic shock which is an inadequate amount of blood circulating in her system. We were able to take care of this with a transfusion."

"When can I see her?" Perry asked eagerly.

"I'm moving her to a private room now. She is awake, but a little groggy. And…she has asked for you at least a dozen times that I know of so I think it will do her a great deal of good if we can get you back there as soon as possible. You ready?" the doctor smiled and stood up.

"You'd better believe it" replied Perry as he stood up too. He then turned towards Paul who was still sitting down and knelt in front of him.

"Got any messages you want me to give her?" he asked.

Paul smiled and hugged him. "Tell her I can't wait to see her beautiful face and…I truly love her and am so glad she's okay."

Perry smiled and said, "Will do."

With that, he followed Dr. Blanton across the waiting room, through the ER doors and down the hallway that would lead him back to Della.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Perry was led down a long hallway by Dr. Blanton. As they approached Della's room, a nurse…the same nurse whom he'd had words with earlier…was coming out with Della's chart.

"Is she still awake?" asked Dr. Blanton.

"No, I'm sorry. The meds finally got the best of her and she's sleeping very heavily" replied the woman as she cast a quick glance at Perry.

"Well, I know she is most anxious to see Mr. Mason. Have a cot brought in because he will be staying the night?" the doctor said to the nurse while also directing the question to Perry.

Perry nodded his head affirmatively.

"Yes, Dr. Blanton…I will have it taken care of as soon as possible" she replied as she handed him the chart and walked past Perry.

"Mr. Mason" Dr. Blanton stated, as he made a notation in the chart, "it was a pleasure seeing you again although I wish it were under better circumstances. I will check back on Miss Street when I do rounds in the morning. If there are any changes or problems that arise, I've made a note in the chart to be contacted immediately and not whomever is on call."

"Thank you for everything and give my best to your wife" replied Perry.

"Will do" replied Dr. Blanton, with a smile, as the two men shook hands and parted ways.

Perry was extremely cautious as he opened the door to Della's hospital room. When he walked in, he found the room to be quite inviting. The walls

were painted a warm yellow color...almost like a golden buttered biscuit and the late afternoon sun cast a peaceful glow against them. Several paintings of

landscapes hung on the walls. A large window overlooked a small courtyard area adjacent to the cafeteria. Picnic tables rested under large oak trees and

several occupants sat at them as they enjoyed an early dinner or a cigarette. After looking around for a brief moment, his eyes settled on the hospital bed and its occupant. Still looking too pale for his liking, Della was laying on her left side…pillow turned slightly sideways…arms hugged around it…and her knees slightly bent. She looked very peaceful. He wanted to rush over, wake her, gather her into his arms, confess his prior knowledge of the threat, and beg for forgiveness, but instead, he quietly pulled up a chair to the side of the bed. Then, feeling a combination of extreme relief and enormous fatigue, he sat down and gently pulled her body closer to the edge of the bed. Still sitting in the chair, he laid his upper body as close to her as he could and tucked his head into the nook created between her stomach and where her knees where raised. He bent his right arm and rested his head upon it while he draped his left arm protectively across her legs. Knowing she was safe at last, Perry was able to fall fast asleep.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

The room was quiet and peaceful when the nurse returned many hours later. She smiled at the vision she encountered upon entering the room. The man…Mr. Mason…who had been so gruff earlier in the day, slept peacefully. His head was nuzzled against the stomach of the patient, Miss Street, while his arm hugged her legs close to him. However, as she approached the bed, she noticed Miss Street was not sleeping at all. Instead, she was lying on her side watching the slumbering figure wrapped around her. When she approached the bed, Della brought a finger to her lips in a motion for the nurse to be very quiet and not wake Perry. The nurse smiled and nodded at her. Then, she checked Della's IV bag, temperature, blood pressure, and bandages. She silently mouthed the question, "Do you need anything?" to Della. Della shook her head 'yes' and mouthed "water."

The nurse poured her a glass and handed it to her. Della took a sip, mouthed "thank you" and the nurse smiled, took the glass, and sat it on a table next to the bed before leaving the room.

When the door was fully closed, Della brought her gaze back down to Perry. As she watched him sleeping, she played back over the events of the last few days in her mind. She was still angry with him…not because she had been targeted, but because he had lied to her about it.

'First' she thought, 'he lied to me at Ferrold's. No wonder he held me so closely to him as we left and then again in the car…I knew that was out of character for him and then that line about needing to come up to my apartment to call Paul and apologize. He only wanted to come up, check things out for safety, and get Paul's men, more than likely, on the job of protecting me.' Then, she smiled very broadly. 'Well, I guess he got a little more than he bargained for that night.'

The memory of that first night's lovemaking took the edge off her anger slightly and she ran her fingers through his hair very softly. He didn't move.

'He seems so tired' she thought as she studied his slumbering body…also taking notice of the dried blood on his clothing. 'By the looks of his clothes, he never left my side or the hospital since the time of the shooting' she thought.

'Oh…the shooting…the feeling of that bullet burning my skin as it pierced Paul's coat and ripped into me. I remember looking at Paul and then feeling like I couldn't stand any longer. I heard Paul call out, "Perry" and then this sound almost like a wounded animal yelling "No!" It was Perry and, while I couldn't talk to him nor will my eyes open, I felt him lay me on the floor. I remember him barking out orders for an ambulance and bandages, but I was really in and out of it for the most part.'

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears. Bits and pieces of the aftermath of the shooting flitted in and out of her mind making it hard to know what was real and what was her imagination. Again, she looked down at Perry and her mind bounced from the shooting, to that morning they were exiting the elevator and she had gotten upset with him for not letting her go to check on the break in and assault at Paul's office. 'He knew then' she thought as she blinked back tears. 'He knew the assault was tied to this threat against me and that's why he didn't want me there. He asked if I trusted him and I told him with my life.' Della wiped the tears from her eyes and looked back down at him.

Then, his words, from the taped phone conversation her kidnapper had made her listen to, played back through her mind.

"You've got the only person that means anything to me at all. You and I both know it."

If any anger remained within her, Della let it go. 'He looks like he's been to hell and back' she thought as she again ran her fingers through his hair softly. She knew Perry. 'He probably took my answer that morning outside the office door to heart and allowed it to reinforce his belief that I would be best protected if I knew nothing of it. It's kind of funny in a way. This man sought so hard to destroy Perry. He misread the situation entirely. We hadn't crossed that line yet, the line between work and pleasure, but he thought we had and jumped the gun by targeting me. Instead of destroying Perry and taking me from him, he really delivered me into Perry's arms and made both of us very, very happy.'

The irony made her smile and let out a slow sigh. 'As for you, my chivalrous Mr. Mason…what am I going to do with you?' As soon as she thought it, the answer followed. 'I'm going to love you the rest of my life.' Della kissed her finger and touched it to Perry's hair. Still, there was no movement from him. She contentedly closed her eyes and rested her hand on the back of his head. They had so much to talk about…so much ahead of them. She would no doubt need to forgive him and alleviate the guilt she knew he felt over the kidnapping, but there would be plenty of time for that tomorrow. For now, they needed to rest together in the quiet sanctity of this room.

Della drifted peacefully back to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

The early morning sun gleamed through Della's hospital room. Perry was deep in thought and had been since dawn as he stood across the room and watched Della sleep. 'Beautiful' he thought, 'she's simply beautiful…and I've likely lost her.'

How was he ever going to find the words to tell her he knew about the threat? How was he ever going to apologize enough for the hurt he had caused her and the danger he had placed her in? Every time he remembered asking her if she trusted him, he heard her words, "With my life" and felt a stab of physical pain. Now, he felt he had broken that trust. He had failed to protect her and the many scenarios spinning in his head about what Marlow possibly did to her quickened his pulse and made it impossible for him to stay still for long. Would he feel this way…feel he had broken Della's trust if he had gotten to Marlow before Marlow had gotten to her? Possibly, but he still would have been left with explaining the lie. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards the window. 'Paul's right. She's going to be very angry. She really has every right to be… but what if she leaves me? Trust is so important in any relationship. Yes…she'll leave me and I will be lost without her." The thought of a life without Della was too much to fathom.

The early morning sun was a little too bright for Della. She brought her hand up to help shield her eyes as she tried to wake up. Then, she slowly stretched her legs and back, but winced in pain from the pull placed upon her stitches. Not feeling Perry's reassuring hold on her legs from the night before, she gingerly sat up and looked around the room. She found him looking out the window…his hands shoved in the pockets of his much wrinkled pants…his shirt very rumpled and the profile of his face showing a fair amount of stubble. She studied him for a moment. Obviously, he was lost in thought because he had not heard her stirring in the bed. He had dark circles under his eyes that the morning sunlight accentuated. She knew she must look dreadful so, before trying to get his attention, she ran her fingers through her hair in a blind attempt to smooth it out. She also ran her fingers under her eyes and rubbed her cheeks to pick up some color.

"Good Morning" she said and smiled warmly.

Perry turned around quickly to face her. His expression wiped the smile from her face. "Perry?" she asked in a concerned tone.

He did not reply, but walked briskly across the room to the bed…never breaking eye contact with her as he did so. He sat on the edge… looked deeper into her questioning eyes for a lingering moment and, being mindful of her injuries, pulled her body into his. She offered no resistance. His embrace felt warm and wonderful. She suddenly felt as if she hadn't been held by him in years and wrapped her arms, as best she could, around him.

Her return of affection was too much to bear and he buried his face into her neck as he choked back tears.

"Della…Della…I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, please" he whispered into the nape of her neck. His lips parted and left soft kisses on her skin which sent a surge of passion through her body. She felt as if she would melt right there.

"Forgive you for what?" she asked as she held onto him and ran her hand up and down his back in a petting motion.

He reluctantly released her, stood up, and walked a few feet away.

"Perry…forgive you for what?" she asked with a great deal of concern.

He turned back to face her, rubbed his right hand up and down his chin, but struggled for the words as he stared at the ground. 'This is it' he thought, 'I'm about to lose her…maybe forever.'

"It's all my fault Della…because…" He couldn't finish the sentence. Della could not bear to see his pain.

"I forgive you" she said quietly.

The simple sentence snapped him back to reality. Their eyes met again, only this time, it was he who had the questioning eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about Della. If you only knew…" Perry stated as he sat back down on the bed.

"I know, Perry. I know everything" she said as she reached out and took his hand in hers. The expression on her face said it all.

"How?" he asked almost inaudibly.

"For torture, he recorded his ransom call to you and made me listen to it. When he said he was right when he told you I was quite delicious, I realized he must have contacted before and I began questioning him. In the end, we both found something out: I found out you and Paul knew he had threatened me and that you had intentionally lied to me and he found out I never knew I was in danger."

Perry sat motionless and again had to choke back tears when he spoke. The emotional roller coaster…the guilt…his relief at her safety…his fear of her reaction to the truth…and his physical fatigue made it near impossible to keep his emotions in check.

"I just wanted to protect you. I know now I never should have lied to you."

"I understand all of that" she replied. "But, damn it Perry, do you understand that I could have handled it?" She was really trying not to let her anger return. She wanted this behind them so they could move on with their relationship and the future.

Perry said little as a new battle surfaced in this mind. "Yes…you could have handled the truth."

"Who was he?" she asked.

"Harry Marlow" replied Perry.

"Harry Marlow?" Della sat for a moment trying to place the name.

"From the Orchids Unlimited Case…he was the Petunia King and I had him put away on extortion charges. Well…he got out and immediately sought

revenge against me for sending him to jail…"

"…and causing him to lose everything" Della interrupted, "I thought he looked familiar when he…well when he would come into the room and…talk to me." She forced the last words out with a cold hatred Perry was not used to hearing in her voice and the fears he'd expressed to Paul in the emergency room break room crept back into his mind.

"So…that's why I had orchids all over my office? It was his idea of a sick threat which is why you wanted them all gone…and, I'm assuming Paul…since you were with me all night and morning…added a different note than what probably came with the flowers?"

"Yes" replied Perry… feeling another twinge of guilt at this further deception. Della let out a deep sigh. Perry looked at the ground and wondered again if she was going to ultimately leave him. Now was as good as a time as ever to ask her about the other problem on his mind.

"Della…I want to ask you something, but it's…well…it's rather delicate in nature and you don't have to answer me but…"

"What is it?" Della replied. She was confused as to why his face had suddenly taken on a red hue to the cheeks and his neck now looked splotchy.

Perry took Della's hand and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss. He was relieved she did not pull away. Again, the tenderness of his lips on her skin sent a surge of passion through her and she wondered how long they would have to wait before they could be together again.

"Umm…well what I want to know is, when I found you and Marlow was..." Perry stumbled over his words. "You see, you were in that blue gown and I know he had to have stolen it because…well…I remember where we left it…that night… so he took it and made you put it on…did he…" Perry cleared his throat and tried to continue.

Slowly, she understood the question he was struggling with and a fresh wave of love for him washed over her.

"No" she replied firmly. Perry looked up from the ground and saw a fire in her eyes that was not there before. It was a fire lit by the flame of anger…not just anger at what Marlow had tried to do to her, but also anger over the additional agony she now realized Perry had endured as he wondered if she had been raped.

"Did he hit you?" A new wave of color flooded Perry's cheeks.

"Yes" she replied quietly. Perry brought his hand to her face and traced the busted lip and bruising on the side of her face with his finger. "So, this is definitely my fault." Then, he took a deep breath and quickly looked away from her.

"Hey," she said very softly as she took her hand, placed it on his chin, and turned his face towards hers.

"How can you forgive me, Della? I can't forgive myself" Perry choked the words out.

"Because…we've danced around our attraction to one another for a very long time…each of us too scared of messing up our working relationship or scared we were misreading each other's signals. Marlow's goal was to destroy us and thus destroy you too, but all he really did was bring us together and give us what we've wanted all along. Yes, I was angry you lied when I first found out, but much of that anger was quickly replaced with understanding. Your intentions with the lie were good… you thought you were protecting me. Perry, I really do understand why you did it. I've already forgiven you. You must let go of this guilt."

"You're not going to leave me, are you?" Perry asked. It took everything he had to maintain his composure as he uttered this question.

"Leave you?" she asked incredulously. Della sat up on her knees very carefully and walked on them a couple of steps across the bed until she was sitting inches from Perry. She rested back on her knees and looked deeply into his eyes.

As she spoke, her eyes filled with tears. "You told me to hold on and I held on for you. You begged me not to leave you…and I did not leave. I would never leave you Perry Mason. I can't live without you either. Don't you know that? I love you. I love you so much. I loved you from the first time I saw you. You're all that matters. It's always been you. It will always be you. I'm sorry I didn't act on it sooner either. I love you more than anything in the world. God…please don't take this man from me."

"Amazing" He whispered as he realized she'd given her own version…her own answers to every plea and every prayer he'd uttered from the time she was shot until the time she was unloaded and taken into the hospital emergency room. He thought she was unconscious, but she'd heard it all.

She gave him a soft smile and wrapped one arm around his neck and the other carefully around his waist as she laid her upper body across his lap.

He cradled her almost like one would cradle a baby and returned her smile with one of his own.

"My God, I love you" Perry exclaimed quietly as, simultaneously, their lips met in a deep, passionate kiss that neither ever wanted to end.


End file.
